The Gambian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Ousman Bah, at the weekend in Abuja, said Nigeria’s giant strides in telecom regulation are the reason that the nation’s telecoms development has become a reference point.
Bah, who led a Gambian delegation, including industry regulators on a courtesy visit to the management of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Abuja, said the visit was informed by the success Nigeria had recorded in the sector and the need for his country to follow the same path of success.
He said it was for this reason that Gambia made arrangements to establish an independent regulatory commission for its telecommunications industry like the NCC of Nigeria, adding that “the current industry statistics is proof that Nigeria is achieving her goals of digitisation of its economy.”
The minister solicited the Commission’s advisory support and strategic collaboration to accelerate economic growth and improve efficiency in both countries and strengthen all sectors across the African continent.
The NCC’s Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, Josephine Amuwa, who received the delegation on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, highlighted the impact of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.
She said the NCA 2003 empowered the Commission to effectively carry out its regulatory mandate, one of which is to create an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry, as well as provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country.
The Director spoke about the Commission’s role in ensuring that the mandate of the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), is accomplished, and that has led to implementation of various programmes to the benefit of Nigerians.
Amuwa explained: “The USPF was also established by the NCA 2003 to ensure that services are extended into the rural communities to ensure that telecoms services are available in unserved and underserved areas, even in the urban areas, to meet government objectives.”
She also cited the consultative and collaborative approach to telecom regulation as one of the factors for Commission’s successes.
According to her, the “commission adopts a participatory rule-making process where key players in the industry are invited to a public hearing for further deliberations to ensure that the stakeholders’ views are considered in establishing these regulatory guidelines.”
The Director advised the delegation to visit the commission’s website to study published regulatory guidelines on all necessary matters. She explained that the guidelines give full effect to the provisions and administration of the NCA 2003.
