The Federal Government on Monday announced a total ban of the importation of Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards into the country.
A SIM card is designed to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, announced the ban on SIM card importation in Lagos at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE)
The expo, which had as participants key industry stakeholders, was organized by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Pantami stressed that the government would no longer tolerate the importation of SIM cards into the country since the item is now being locally produced.
According to him, the decision was hinged on the need to increase indigenous content in the ICT sector so that by 2025, the nation would be self-reliant by at least 80 percent.
The minister said: “Let me make it clear that the federal government will no longer tolerate the importation of SIM cards. We are now producing them in Nigeria.
“Our aim is to increase indigenous content in the ICT sector so that by 2025, we will be self-reliant by at least 80 percent”, he added.
While urging stakeholders in the ICT sector and citizens to support government’s efforts to boost local patronage and consumption, Pantami stressed that “if we do this, history will be kind to all of us.”
The minister had last month disclosed that the government, in collaboration with the private sector, had established a SIM card manufacturing plant in Lagos.
He explained that the facility had installed capacity of 200 million cards annually which is capable of meeting subscribers’ needs in the domestic and other African countries’ markets.
