Some telecommunications stakeholders on Tuesday called for more investments in the sector, saying that government was the key enabler to scale up investment.

The experts made this known at a colloquium in Lagos, with the theme: “Telecoms Industry 2.O: The Next Investment Frontier in Nigeria.

The event, which was organised by Financial Derivatives Company, was attended by experts from various sectors of the economy.

The Chief Executive Officer, Chapel Hill Denham, Mr Bolaji Balogun, in his keynote address, said that government was an enabler to scale up investment through tariff, equity, transparency, incentives and listing.

The theme of his address was: “Nigeria’s Telecommunications Industry.

Balogun said that over $70bn had been  spent on telecom investments for the past two decades, however, there remained areas for further investments.

He said that further investment included complete or near universal coverage, service quality, small but growing number of smartphones, broadband quality and penetration, which had remained average.

He said that with more investments, Nigeria would be the third largest mobile market globally, in less than 10 years.

Balogun urged government to place tariff on imported goods to protect local assembly or manufacturers, co-invest in import substitution startups through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated or the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

According to him, government should also encourage financial transparency by mandating operators to publish  financial statements, creating tax rebate for listed companies.

“Imagine a Nigeria where all Nigerians interact with the government digitally, the use of Artificial Intelligence will also increase bandwidth demand exponentially.

“Regulators need to consider an altered perspective around tariffs to encourage investments, the ecosystem needs to increase localisation, minimise exposure to foreign exchange financing, utilise capital markets and create a plan for talent development.

The chief executive officer said further that the industry’s carbon footprint remained far too large, and its talent pool development was limited largely in big operators.

In his address, the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said that the colloquim was aimed at rebooting to take advantage of the massive investment  opportunity in the telecoms industry.

Rewane said that Nigeria’s share of the global telecom investment was estimated at 0.6 per cent while its share of the global population is approximately three per cent.

“The global telecom investment is projected to hit $342bn in 2027.

“If, Nigeria can increase its share of global telecom investment to at least one per cent, this can result in $3.5bn.

“This will boost forex inflow into the country and productivity, which is suitable for employment, and overall economic growth.

‘’For Nigeria to regain its lost position as Africa’s largest economy, there is an urgent and imperative need to press the reset button and revive this sector as time is not on the side of Nigeria.

At a panel discussion, the President, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo, said that the telecom industry had grown so much that it had become a victim of its own success.

Adebayo said that the industry operators were being owed so much debts.

He said that government had also not met up with its promise of about 18 hours of power supply for the sector.

” Government needs to look at the issue at this point because it is one of the major challenges of the sector.

“There is need for more investment in the sector for its sustainability while we plead with the banks to pay up its debt to the telecoms sector,” the ALTON president said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, said the industry was too critical to stay the same way due to the unstable business environment in the country.

Toriola noted that the cost of running  the business due to high cost of diesel as well as unstable dollarisation was way higher than the tariff the telecoms companies got from sales.

He stressed that such would not encourage investments in the sector.

The Chief Executive Officer, MainOne, Funke Opeke, said that the challenge was about recognising the reality of the environment, particularly as it had to do with tariffs.

“Let the market work just like what government is doing in other sectors. Let competition, demand and supply determine the price.

“If Nigerians can buy a lot more and consume more, prices will come down but government cannot artificially cap prices because it would limit investment,” Opeke said. (NAN)