Danbatta urges indigenous content in telcom sector

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has urged the Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector (NODITS) on the need to ensure effective delivery of its mandates with respect to the promotion of indigenous contents in the nation’s telecoms sector. Danbatta […]

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has urged the Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecom Sector (NODITS) on the need to ensure effective delivery of its mandates with respect to the promotion of indigenous contents in the nation’s telecoms sector.

Danbatta made this call in a keynote address delivered at a two-day brainstorming and team-building session organised by NODITS team, which started in Abuja on Thursday, November 25, 2021.

The EVC said the Office is very critical to effective mainstreaming of local content development in the nation’s burgeoning telecoms sector.

NODITS is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) designed to stimulate the creation and development of top-quality indigenous content in the telecommunication sector.

The creation of the NODITS on July 5, 2021 and its domiciliary in the Commission was a sequel to the signing of the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Telecommunication Sector (NPPIC) by the President in March.

Represented at the event by the Director, Human Capital, and Administration, NCC, Usman Malah, Danbatta said the development of NPPIC, facilitated by the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, is essentially aimed at driving the desire of the current administration and the NCC to ensure that indigenes become more active participants in Nigeria’s telecoms sector.

Speaking on Management’s expectations from NODITS, the EVC said, as an SPV under the purview of the Commission, NODITS would be expected to get involved in the development of new guidelines and regulations bordering on indigenous content, local manufacturing of telecom equipment, outsourcing services, construction and lease of telecoms ducts, succession planning in the telecoms sector, among others.