Telecoms can’t thrive on overlaps and overheads

Dr Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), is sounding a note that policymakers and state actors can no longer afford to ignore: Nigeria’s communications sector is weighed down by regulatory duplication and an exhausting maze of taxes. These issues, long known within industry circles, were brought to the fore during the inaugural Annual Workshop for Attorneys-General on Emerging Issues in the Communications Sector, held recently in Lagos. 

The telecommunications industry is central to Nigeria’s digital future, touching everything from mobile banking and e-commerce to governance, health, and education. Yet, rather than create conditions for unhindered innovation, the system is stalling progress under the burden of conflicting regulations and fiscal uncertainty. According to Maida, multiple taxes and levies, often imposed simultaneously by different tiers of government, are disincentivising investment and impeding infrastructural expansion.

It is difficult to ignore the disconnect between federal ambitions to grow the digital economy and state-level practices that undercut those ambitions. Investors are unlikely to commit capital where there is no clarity, no stability, and no regulatory coherence. While agencies may operate with individual mandates, the ecosystem suffers when those mandates collide.

The NCC’s push to engage Attorneys-General from all 36 states, alongside the Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, is a crucial first step in building the legal scaffolding for digital transformation. The workshop did not just aim to inform; it sought to co-create pathways for synergy, particularly around legal and institutional reform.

Maida’s remarks about updating the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 point to another urgent issue. A law that predates most smartphones and social media platforms is no longer fit for the pace and scale of contemporary technological shifts. As Nigeria grapples with the regulation of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cybersecurity infrastructure, legislation must evolve accordingly. But legal reform alone will not be enough.

There must be a genuine political will, especially at state level, to resolve the contradiction between short-term revenue ambitions and the long-term health of the sector. A situation where the same communications infrastructure is taxed by local councils, state boards, and federal agencies is unsustainable. The result is a fragmented environment where operators spend more time managing compliance than delivering service quality.

What is often overlooked in these discussions is the cost borne by ordinary Nigerians. Poor service quality, network outages, slow rollouts of fibre infrastructure, and prohibitive data costs are all, in part, symptoms of a regulatory environment that is difficult to navigate. When operators are bogged down by compliance hurdles and fiscal traps, consumers pay the price, whether through service disruptions or higher tariffs.

Moreover, the government’s ambition to diversify the economy through digital transformation will struggle to gain traction unless the backbone of that transformation, broadband infrastructure, is protected and nurtured. President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Order designating communications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure is a step in the right direction. But that designation must now be matched by enforcement, coordination, and practical policy realignment at every level of government.

There is also a strategic imperative at play. Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in a world where digital competitiveness is becoming the benchmark for economic progress. If outdated legal frameworks, uncoordinated taxes, and regulatory turf wars are allowed to persist, Nigeria risks falling behind more agile African peers who are already courting investors with streamlined policies and modern infrastructure plans.

The vision of a connected, inclusive, and resilient digital economy is achievable. However, it will require more than rhetoric. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of what is broken, the courage to dismantle entrenched inefficiencies, and the discipline to deliver reform that supports growth. The NCC has made its position clear. It is now time for state governments and policymakers across the board to match that clarity with action.