The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says its Strategic Vision Implementation Plan (SVP) 2021 -2025 which was unveiled on September 7, 2021 was meant to speed up Broadband penetration, 5G deployment and rapid development of telecom infrastructure in Nigeria.

Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) said at the 2022 Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos that the SVP 2021-2025 Plan has five major items namely:

• Organisational Renewal for Operational Efficiency and Regulatory Excellence;
• Facilitating the Provision of Infrastructure for a Digital Economy which fosters National Development;
• Promoting Fair Competition, Inclusive Growth, Increased investment and Innovative Services;
• Improve Quality of Service (QoS) for Enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE); and
• Facilitating Strategic Collaboration and Partnership.

Danbatta, who was represented by Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, Deputy Director at the NCC, emphasised that the Plan will lead to sustained implementation of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025, increase Broadband penetration which was 44.65 percent as at August 2022 and support the deployment of optic fibre cable using the infrastructure company (InfraCo) Project under the Open Access Model.

“The Commission has instructed all licensees to commence immediate rollout without recourse to counterpart funding since the licence is independent of the counterpart funding agreement.”

On 5G deployment, the NCC EVC/CEO said the Commission already licensed two operators (MTN and MAFAB) for the two available slots (3.5-3.6 GHz & 3.7-3.8 GHz bands) respectively, generating a total revenue of $563.1 million in the process.

Danbatta stated that NCC is working towards the establishment of the Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector (NODITS), implementing government directives on local production of Sim cards in Nigeria and review of other regulations of the ICT and digital economy sector.

A key element in the NCC Strategic Plan, according to the Commission, is active collaboration with relevant stakeholders and partners for sustainable growth of the telecom sector in Nigeria.

The NCC Chief cited the participation of the Commission at the GOCOP Annual Conference 2022 as an example of such partnership, in addition to recent signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) amongst others.

“Last week, the Commission inaugurated a joint committee with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) to address issues about the operation of mobile lotteries to protect the interest of telecom consumers.”

Going forward, the Commission said it has equally embarked on other initiatives such as provision of funding for telecoms R&D to universities and Academia in the last five years, endowment of two professorial chairs in two Nigerian universities, disbursed over N500 million to universities for telecom research in addition to annual grants in telecommunications fields, developed a database of all tech hubs in Nigeria across the six geopolitical regions and provided sponsorship for young local innovators to ITU Telecom Worlds in Thailand & South Korea.

Today in Nairobi, Interswitch Group formally unveiled the 2022 Payments Innovation Jury Report, which was also supported by The World Bank and Global Processing Services (GPS).

The report titled: “Payment Innovation: Myths and Realities”, comes as part of the series of the which reveals some surprising insights from senior decision makers across the industry, and the 2022 report, which coincides with Interswitch’s 20^th anniversary commemoration explores several key areas where payment innovation is currently focused, including A2A payments and BNPL, what actually drives innovation, and which areas of innovation are most overhyped, amongst other incisive global payment themes.

The 2022 Payments Innovation Jury whose expert insights and perspectives essentially drove the report was made up of 79 senior payments leaders across 30 different markets. To give a full, 360- degree picture, a significant number of senior regulators and investors were recruited to the Jury for the first time since its inception, alongside national payments companies, banks, fintechs, and payments policy bodies. Importantly, all Jury members participate on an anonymous basis to allow them to speak freely, unencumbered by the innovation priorities of their current organisation. The 2022 report is the tenth in a series spanning 14 years.

According to Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer at Interswitch, “As one of the leading and influential players in payments who regard Africa as both our origin and primary catchment market, we are extremely enthused at Interswitch to yet again facilitate this timely and important research effort, which curates practical insights and expert perspectives of senior leaders globally, and across the entire spectrum of African retail payments. It is worth mentioning that this edition coincides with the 20^th anniversary of Interswitch’s inception, and I am thoroughly delighted that at such a significant milestone in our journey as a front-row contributor to payment innovation in Africa, we once again have the privilege of supporting this worthy initiative that is facilitating balanced appraisal and better understanding of the payments industry as it continues to evolve”.

John Chaplin, Founder/Chairman of the Payments Innovation Jury and Board Director at Interswitch opines that “In the payments industry there have long been competing ideas on what will be the ‘Next Big Thing’, particularly as many good ideas fail to achieve the scale to operate economically. As such, what is surprising about the 2022 Payments Innovation Jury is the level of consensus achieved in almost all areas, from the future of BNPL to the end user benefits of CBDCs.

“It has been incredibly rewarding to gather the insights of 79 of the most senior players shaping the global payments industry. My grateful thanks to them for taking the time to share their views, which have been curated in this report. The support of Interswitch, the World Bank, and Global Processing Services is much appreciated, as their patronage allows us to operate on a not-for-profit basis and

distribute the report free of charge to anyone with an interest in the future of innovation in the payments industry.”

Some of the report’s key findings include:

• Market share of account-to-account (A2A) transactions is expected to increase steadily over the next five years, but the lack of a sustainable income stream for participants calls elements of the A2A business case into
• Although the dominance of the card model in developed countries will be hard to shake, volume growth in card payments will be harder to achieve as alternative payment methods such as A2A grow their market share.
• In terms of which initiatives regulators should prioritise to promote innovation, the establishment of payment institution licenses with lower regulatory capital than full-service banks was seen as most effective, with sandboxes not being viewed as
• There was an almost even split between whether Banking as a Service (BaaS) is a technology model or a business Hopes that traditional banks would benefit seem largely misplaced, as it is a new generation of specialist platform providers that are leading the charge.
• BNPL usage is set to increase in the short/medium term because of strong benefits for consumers and However, its rapid expansion is likely to be a short-term phenomenon in the face of future regulation and rising credit losses.
• The introduction of CBDCs is seen as highly likely in most The Jury was not convinced that there is market demand for CBDCs, however, and highlighted the significant operational costs of deployment. Essentially, the Jury believes that CBDCs will happen, but not that there are tangible benefits for much of the industry nor end users.
• Payment data is still not being utilised to its full advantage, with the exception of fraud Regulatory restrictions on the use of personal data are leaving the field largely clear for a small number of global bigtechs who have better technology and a different business model than conventional payment providers.
• Whilst the mobile is becoming the preferred form factor for payments globally, and gathering particular momentum in developing markets, mobile money has significant regulatory hurdles to
• Asia continues to lead the global charge on payments innovation and Africa comes out ahead of the USA and Europe, despite traditionally having much lower levels of
• The two areas of payments innovation where the Jury feel reality will diverge most from the promises were cryptocurrency and

The 2022 Payments Innovation Jury report: Payment Innovation: Myths and Realities can be read in full here: www.interswitchgroup.com/2022paymentinnovationjuryreport

Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) casting his vote at the on-going ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 in Bucharest, Romania on Monday.

In clear recognition of the critical role Nigeria is playing on the global telecom stage, the country was re-elected earlier today as a Council member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialised agency that oversees global telecommunication operations. Nigeria will serve on the Council again from 2023-2026.

The election of Nigeria and other countries, on Monday, October 3, 2022, into different regional groups that constitute ITU Council, was the highpoint of the Plenipotentiary Conference 2022 (PP-22) on-going in Bucharest, the capital city of the Republic of Romania.

The Nigerian delegation was successfully led to the global event by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. Other members of the delegation include the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande, and the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta.

At the conference, which started on September 26, 2022 and scheduled to end on October 14, 2022, member states at the event voted on the composition of the next ITU Council and the 12 representatives to serve on the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) for the next four years.

The 21st Plenipotentiary Conference of the Council, also saw the election by member states, of Doreen Bogdan-Martin of the United States of America as the organisation’s next Secretary-General.

Like Nigeria and the countries elected into the Council, Bogdan-Martin, as the first woman to lead ITU in its 157-year history, will begin her four-year term from January 2023, when Houlin Zhao would have completed his second final term of four years in office as ITU Secretary General.

The seats in ITU Council are divided into five regions, A to E. Nigeria was elected into the ITU Council, Region D for Africa, which has 13 seats. Other 12 countries elected alongside Nigeria are Algeria; Egypt; Ghana; Kenya; Mauritius; Morocco; Rwanda; Senegal; South Africa; Tanzania; Tunisia; Uganda.

Elections of member states also took place into the Region A for The Americas (nine seats); Region B for Western Europe (eight seats); Region C for Eastern Europe & Northern Asia (five seats); and Region E, for Asia and Australasia with 13 seats as Africa.

Commenting on Nigeria’s re-election as ITU Council member, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prof. Umar Danbatta, thanked the ITU member states for the confidence it has in Nigeria expressed by the re-elected into the ITU Council, in which the country has been playing critical role over the years.

“The re-election of Nigeria as a member of ITU Council for the next four years, again, points to the globally-recognised leadership role Nigeria is playing in Africa and at the level of ITU Council in the area of telecommunications policy formulation and technical regulations development to drive ITU’s mission and vision,” the EVC said.

The ITU, originally established in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union and became a United Nations specialised agency in 1947, was set up to co-ordinate telecommunications operations and services throughout the world. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nigeria became a member of ITU on November 4, 1961. The USA joined on July 1, 1908; United Kingdom, February 24, 1871, and UAE on June 27, 1972.

The ITU is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the Administrative Council. The Plenipotentiary Conference is the supreme organ of the Union. It is the decision-making body which determines the direction of the Union and its activities.

The Council, on the other hand, acts as the Union’s governing body in the interval between Plenipotentiary Conferences. Its role is to consider broad telecommunication policy issues to ensure that the Union’s activities, policies, and strategies fully respond to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing telecommunications environment.

ITU Council also prepares a report on the policy and strategic planning of the ITU, and it is responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of the Union, coordinating work programmes, approving budgets, and controlling finances and expenditure.

The Council also takes all steps to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the ITU Constitution, the ITU Convention, the Administrative Regulations (International Telecommunications Regulations and Radio Regulations), the decisions of Plenipotentiary Conferences, and where appropriate, the decisions of other conferences and meetings of the Union.

L-R: Banji Ojo, Head, Consumer Policy Development and Monitoring, Nigerian communications Commission (NCC); Olayemi Ajayi, Director, Legal Services, National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC); Adeleke Adewolu, Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, NCC; Chizua Whyte, Head, Operator Relation and Correspondence, NCC and Obi Iregbu, Deputy Director, Licensing and Regulatory Services, NLRC, at the inauguration of a joint-committee to review existing Memorandum of Understating (MoU) between the two agencies in Abuja recently.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) in Abuja set up a committee to work towards the protection of the interest of telecom consumers against malpractices that may attend mobile lotteries in the country.

The Committee, which was inaugurated at the NCC Head Office in Abuja, was tasked with the responsibility of articulating measures to address mutual regulatory issues, including the review of revenue-sharing formula between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and lottery operators.

The NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM), Barrister Adeleke Adewolu, who presided at the meeting comprising senior staff of the two agencies, recalled fondly previous engagements between the agencies and stated that the committee was important in order to review and update an NCC-NLRC Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed on the 6th of August 2018 but has now expired.

The ECSM said the Commission is committed to regulatory collaboration and strategic partnerships and has carefully reviewed NLRC’s requests and is convinced that both organisations can conclusively address issues and other concerns that have been identified in the operation of lotteries in the telecom industry.

“We expect that the Joint Committee of senior members of staff in both organisations will work closely to develop a collaborative framework to progressively improve gaming service delivery for telecoms consumers and further accelerate holistic development in Nigeria’s digital economy,” Adewolu stated.

In addition, the ECSM reiterated that the Committee is expected to articulate a new MoU to address issues around revenue sharing between MNOs and lottery operators, the need to review and recommend a workable model for addressing the needs of both organisations, and present informed recommendations to deepen regulatory collaboration between the two regulatory agencies.

“Given the strong professional pedigree of the members of this Joint Committee, I have no doubt that they will meet and even exceed the expectations of the Managements of both the NCC and the NLRC, and I wish you all success in this task,” Adewolu added.

Speaking on behalf of the Director-General, NLRC, Lanre Gbajabiamila, the Director, Legal Services, NLRC, Olayemi Ajayi, expressed her organisation’s commitment to improving revenue generation from the lottery industry while appreciating NCC for being receptive to inter-organisational collaborations.

Ajayi reiterated the need for renewal of the expired MoU with amendments to accommodate new provisions that will be favourable to stakeholders and fast-track the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

Ajayi assured that, “The NLRC is working tirelessly to ameliorate its functions and service delivery to stakeholders. Therefore, this renewed collaboration with NCC will help for better and efficient service delivery by both agencies.”