The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has expressed its full support for the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) call for local smartphone manufacturing to accelerate digital inclusion in the country.
The Chairman of the association, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, spoke on the members’ position on the call by the NCC Board Chairman, Idris Olorunnimbe, to the government and investors to support local smartphone production and innovative financing as a strategic step towards achievement of the $1 trillion digital economy target for the country by 2030/
The industry expert, who shared his views on the commission’s stance during an interactive session with journalists last Saturday, described the call as a desirable measure with strong potential of boosting broadband adoption and expanding digital inclusion nationwide.
Adebayo maintained that for Nigeria to optimize her potential as a leading digital economy players in the rapidly evolving global market, the country must change from being a major technology importer and transform to an innovator, designer and manufacturer of digital technologies.
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The ALTON chairman further clarified that Nigeria’s telecommunications market and youthful population provided the leverage and human capital required for world-class technology manufacturing, hence the need for the country to transit from assemblage of smartphones into acquiring technology capabilities across the value chain to meet local and export markets’ demand.
He explained: “Our ambition should extend beyond assembling devices. We must pursue genuine knowledge transfer, research and development, product engineering, software development, semiconductor capabilities and large-scale manufacturing.”
Noting that Artificial Intelligence (AI), based on its transformational impact on product design, manufacturing, quality assurance, supply chain management, customer experience and software innovation, has strengthened Nigeria’s opportunity to become a competitive technology manufacturing hub at least in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA),
Adebayo projected that Nigeria investing in AI-enabled manufacturing would boost productivity, create techno jobs and strengthen the nation’s competitiveness in the rapidly evolving SSA’s markets.
He also endorsed the NCC chairman’s position on the need to address the menace of counterfeit and non-type-approved devices in the domestic market through stronger market integrity, noting that the challenge remains a big hurdle affecting consumers, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and the broader telecommunications ecosystem.
The industry expert stressed that robust local manufacturing capacity supported by strong quality standards would provide alternatives to grey-market imports just as effective type approval, competitive pricing will strengthen consumer protection, improve network performance, retain greater value within the economy, and boost the nation’s industrial development.
