The Federal Government through the Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Ministry, has unveiled 5-man Ministerial Committee to review operational conditions and propose fiscal measures to cushion impact of macroeconomic pressure on telecommunications operators in Nigeria.
The Minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani who made the set up in Abuja on Friday said this Ministerial Committee will address issues faced by telecoms companies in the process of delivering quality services to end users across the country.
According to him, “As a major contributor to our country’s GDP, the telecommunications industry is critical to the development of our nation as it helps to spur innovation and promote digital inclusion among Nigerians.
”It is therefore imperative that we support it in delivering best quality services to the people in a manner that encourages holistic development, and removes growth”, Tijani said this while speaking on the goal of the Ministerial Committee.
The Terms of Reference for the Ministerial Committee is as follows: Review the operational conditions of the telecoms industry in Nigeria and propose strategic initiatives to cushion the impact of macro- economic challenges on operations of the Nigerian telecom industry.
II. Review fiscal measures with direct or consequential impact on the telecoms industry and propose initiatives that can provide relief to telecoms operators.
III. Consider and propose incentives to improve backward integration in the telecoms industry with a view to cumulative reductions on dependence on foreign exchange (FX) for the provisioning of telecoms services in Nigeria.
IV. Review shared services and infrastructure arrangements in the industry and propose incentives and policy direction to improve the competitiveness of the Nigerian telecommunications industry.
V. Review existing local content strategies for the telecoms sector, to realign all local content initiatives and programs with the programs and policies of the current administration.
VI. The committee may co-opt or invite any competent person, firm, or organisation to provide information or make suggestions in line with any of these Terms of Reference.
The Minister gave the Committee one month to turn its report in, which must look into all aspects of the industry “and isolate critical challenges faced by it with a view to proffering workable solutions as it aligns with the programmes and policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.