Nigerian telecommunications sector to benefit from British intervention funding

NIGERIA is set to benefit from £1.2bn intervention fund which the British government plans to pour into a number of developing countries in a bid to bridge access to communication under its international development programme.

 

According to Professor Umar Danbatta, the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), both governments have decided to collaborate on the matter. Speaking after a meeting between the NCC and a team from the United Kingdom’s Department of Foreign and International Development, he added that they had agreed to collaborate on digital inclusion, cybersecurity and capacity building.

 

Professor Danbatta said: “This delegation is here to explore how the UK government can channel a significant intervention to the tune of £1.2bn to create wealth and posterity in selected countries around the world. This creation of posterity will leverage the power of the ICT to provide access to un-served and underserved areas in the country.

 

"The intervention is also on cybersecurity and capacity building, three key areas. With the right rural technology solution, we can do it faster because at the rate we are plugging the gaps, it will take us about 20 years to conclude.”

 

He told the British delegation that there were 200 access gaps in Nigeria and that the NCC was looking at different rural technology solutions to plug them in two years as against the 20 years projected.

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