News
Congolese Regulator Understudies Nigeria’s Telecoms Market
Nasiru Yusuf
Faith in the operational excellence and regulatory efficiency that have become the marks of Africa’s foremost regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was demonstrated recently when a delegation from the Congo-Brazzaville Telecommunications Regulations Authority (CTRA) visited the NCC on a benchmarking tour.
KANO FOCUS reports that the delegation from the central African nation purposively paid a scheduled visit to NCC, essentially to understudy the latter’s policies, practices and programmes that have made it a model telecommunications regulatory authority on the Continent and beyond.
The Congolese team led by CTRA’s Network Director, Benjamin Mouandza, spent three days at the NCC Head Office in Abuja, where it was exposed to key result-oriented regulatory activities, frameworks, programmes and policies of NCC, with the objective to explore how such operational frameworks could be adapted by the African nation noted for its huge rainforest reserves.
In the letter written to the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Umar Danbatta, the Congolese regulator had indicated interest to gain more insights into three areas of NCC’s regulatory activities, namely, management of issues associated with Quality of Service (QoS), SIM Boxing and Call Masking, as well as telecom equipment type-approval process.
In response to the request, Danbatta had graciously accepted to host the team and further directed relevant departments of NCC, including Special Duties (SD); Technical Standards and Network Integrity (TSNI); and the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement (CME) directorates to interact with the team to provide necessary information sharing that may be useful to the Congolese counterpart.
Addressing the CTRA team, the NCC’s Director, TSNI, Bako Wakil, spoke extensively on the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) institued by NCC on QoS and how these KPIs are measured and monitored by the Commission toward ensuring improved service delivery to the Nigeria’s ever-growing telecoms consumers. He said this also helped to improve Quality of Experience (QoE) of the consumers.
On type-approval process, Wakil stated that the Commission had developed a rigorous type-approval process to ensure that telecoms equipment, including terminal devices, manufactured in line with international standards and specifications are brought into the country.
“The NCC is serious about type-approval process like other processes, because non-type approved devices and equipment which are also not manufactured to international standards and specifications have negative implications for quality of service delivery on the networks,” he said.
Wakil also spoke extensively, to the admiration of the Congolese team, on call masking and highlighted measures the NCC had put in place to address the menace.
He described call masking as “the practice of sending international calls to an operator but disguising the calls as if they were local by sending the calls on the local interconnect route with a local number in the national numbering plan instead of the original international calling number.”
In a related presentation to the visiting team on SIM boxing fraud and efforts being taken by the NCC to combat the menace, NCC’s Director, CME, Ephraim Nwokonneya, spoke on the problems created by fraudulent practice of SIM Boxing, including threat to national security, loss of revenue to service providers and the government.
Additionally, he asserted the anti-competitive practices associated with such acts among licensees as well as the general economic implications so evident in revenue loss.
However, Nwokonneya itemised solutions to SIM Boxing fraud from a regulatory perspective. He declared that regulators can deploy anti-SIM boxing and call masking solutions, be proactive and effective in monitoring and enforcement, collaboration with the industry and law enforcement agencies, capacity building through training and skill acquisition programmes, as well as the review of the Enforcement Regulations and enabling laws.
More importantly, Nwokonneya told the Congolese telecoms regulator team that collaboration between the regulator and the industry is required to effectively combat the menace of SIMBox Fraud, Call Masking and Call Refiling in conjunction with deployment of technological solution and well trained staff.
From the presentations, it was made clear that the scale of call masking and SIMBoxing has been on the downward decline in Nigeria while the number of complaints from subscribers on incorrectly displayed calling numbers has also reduced substantially.
To prove that NCC processes emplaced to combat the menace are succeeding, Nwokonneya stated that there has been a significant and noticeable improvement in the display of correct international calling numbers into Nigeria networks.
The NCC Directors also reiterated that the Commission is also taking strategic actions on SIM Registration, the National Identification Number (NIN) and the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) linkage policy.
The NCC team informed the visitors that a maximum of four SIM numbers are permissible to be registered per subscriber per network requirement. This is another measure deployed by the NCC to tackle SIMBoxing which usually requires multiple SIMs to flourish.
The NCC team emphasised that the combination of regulatory action and deployment of technology solutions have helped to put the menace of call masking and SIMBoxing in the Nigeria’s telecoms sector under check.
Commenting on the benefits of the visit, CTRA’s Mouandza, said the choice made by the Congolese regulator to visit NCC on a benchmarking tour has been worthwhile. “We have come to understand how the regulator in Nigeria has been handling some salient regulatory issues and matters in the country as it relates to telecoms.
“In the course of this visit, I can say that our objective has been achieved. The experience has been very rich, we have learnt many things. We thank the EVC and his team for accepting to host us. We are more positioned now to replicate some of the things we have learnt in our telecoms market back home,” he said.
The Congolese officials had practical demonstrations of the issues earlier discussed, especially the nature of technologies that have been deployed by the NCC to independently and remotely monitor, measure and validate QoS on the networks of mobile operators in the country.
It will be recalled that the visit by the Congolese team came barely a month after the NCC hosted officials from Sierra Leone’s National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), who equally visited NCC to benchmark the Nigeria’s telecom regulator’s policies, programmes and regulatory activities.
Over the years, the NCC has constantly received delegations from telecoms regulators in Africa and this trend has remained a major boost for Nigeria’s global ranking as a model in telecommunications regulation.
Suffice it to say, that, these benchmarking visits have eloquently reinforced NCC’s leadership status in operational efficiency, collaborative partnership, and commitment to intra-African solidarity in the telecommunications sphere.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Government has directed all civil servants who have attained their statutory retirement age or completed the required length of service to immediately vacate their offices and hand over government property in their possession.
KANO FOCUS reports that the directive was contained in Circular issued on Tuesday by the Establishment Directorate, Office of the Head of Civil Service, Kano State.
The circular, signed by the Permanent Secretary, Establishment, Abba A. Danguguwa, on behalf of the Head of Civil Service, was titled: “Unauthorized Continuance in Service After Statutory Retirement by Civil Servants in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of Government – Call for Immediate Handing Over of Official Documents, Properties.”
The government said it had observed that some civil servants continued to remain in office and operate in official capacities after reaching their statutory retirement period.
According to the circular, such conduct was a “negation to the reputation of the Civil Service of Kano State,” noting that the service had a long-standing tradition of ensuring seamless transition by retiring civil servants.
It described the continued stay in service after retirement as a direct infraction and aberration of relevant provisions of the State Civil Service Rules and other applicable service regulations.
The government stressed that it was legally and administratively untenable for any officer to remain in service or perform official functions beyond the statutory limit.
Consequently, all civil servants who had retired either by age or length of service were directed to immediately exit and hand over all official documents, government property and duties to their immediate subordinates in their respective ministries, departments and agencies.
The circular also directed all Accounting Officers, including Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives, as well as Directors of Administration and Personnel Management, to ensure strict and immediate compliance with the directive.
It warned that any officer found aiding, abetting or condoning the continued stay of a retired officer in service would face appropriate disciplinary action in accordance with the Civil Service Rules.
The directive takes immediate effect, the circular stated.
News
Nigeria’s Data Demand Surges 47% as Stakeholders Seek Fresh Investment in Digital Infrastructure
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Nigeria’s data consumption rose by almost 47 per cent year-on-year to about 1.6 million terabytes in July 2026, highlighting growing pressure on the country’s digital infrastructure, stakeholders have said.
KANO FOCUS reports that the development was disclosed in a communiqué issued at the end of the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Investment Forum 2026, organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with Swedfund and Ookla in Abuja.
The forum, held from September 29 to 30 under the theme, “Unlocking Infrastructure Investment through Data, Transparency and Partnerships,” brought together government officials, regulators, investors, development finance institutions, mobile network operators, infrastructure companies and other stakeholders.
The participants said subscriptions were projected to increase from about 195 million currently to 350 million within the next 10 to 15 years, while growing demand from cloud computing and artificial intelligence would put additional pressure on telecommunications networks, data centres and power supply.
According to the communiqué signed by Nnenna Ukoha, Director, Public Affairs Department, NCC, on Sunday, telecommunications and information services contributed 9.72 per cent of Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of 2026.
The participants consequently described digital connectivity as economic infrastructure, stressing its growing importance to trade, productivity and economic growth.
They, however, noted that while mobile broadband coverage had reached about 90 per cent of Nigerians, smartphone ownership remained at about 27 per cent, while broadband penetration stood at 57.4 per cent against a national target of 70 per cent.
The forum identified device affordability, digital skills and trust as major constraints to meaningful connectivity, saying expanding network coverage alone would not be sufficient to close the digital divide.
Participants also identified inadequate power supply and limited middle-mile connectivity as major constraints to further digital infrastructure deployment.
They noted that the high cost of inland connectivity had restricted data-centre and internet service investments largely to major metropolitan areas, calling for energy and connectivity investments to be planned together.
The forum further stressed the need for long-term financing for digital infrastructure, noting that such assets typically have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years and therefore require financing arrangements longer than the conventional five-year bank tenors.
Participants said infrastructure financing in Nigeria had grown from less than N70 billion in 2004 to N19.4 trillion in 2025, but stressed that access to long-term capital would depend on good governance, management capacity and policy predictability.
They also highlighted the impact of state-level policies on telecommunications investment, particularly Right of Way charges and permitting requirements.
According to the communiqué, a pilot of the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index across 12 states showed that Right of Way reforms translated into fibre growth of between 22 per cent and 95 per cent in states that implemented reforms.
It added that the number of states charging zero Right of Way fees had increased to 12, from seven in December 2024.
The forum called on the Federal Government to accelerate the delivery of Project BRIDGE, the planned 90,000-kilometre national fibre backbone, as part of efforts to address the middle-mile connectivity gap.
It also urged the government to improve the availability and reliability of electricity for digital infrastructure and support financing mechanisms capable of reducing the cost of capital in the sector.
The NCC was urged to sustain reforms aimed at improving investment conditions, including tariff realignment, designation of critical national information infrastructure and engagement with states on Right of Way reforms.
The commission was also asked to publish the first national Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index report, advance open-access and wholesale regulation, and finalise the direct-to-device framework.
State governments were urged to reduce and harmonise Right of Way and site permit charges, adopt the federal model under which fibre operators are responsible for road reinstatement, and reduce permitting timelines.
The stakeholders also called on operators and technology companies to expand shared-infrastructure and neutral-host models to reduce the cost of rural and indoor coverage.
They recommended that investors and development finance institutions provide long-term naira financing for digital infrastructure and link funding to independently verified network performance.
The forum identified several priority actions, including securing funding within six months for community-owned rural networks powered by renewable energy in communities without connectivity.
Other actions include issuing open-access and wholesale regulations, publishing a wholesale rate card, completing broadband mapping, strengthening the Universal Service Fund framework and developing business cases for indoor coverage.
Within 18 to 24 months, participants recommended establishing a financing framework for telecommunications power and developing metro and access fibre through concessions, mapped against existing assets and integrated with Project BRIDGE.
The NCC said it would continue engaging participants and other stakeholders to advance the agreed actions and investment pathways.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf says his administration has settled approximately N32 billion out of the N48 billion inherited backlog of gratuities and related liabilities owed to retirees in the state.
KANO FOCUS reports that Gov Yusuf disclosed this on Thursday while addressing residents at the 66th Independence Anniversary celebration held at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium in Kano.
The governor said the government had also sustained the regular payment of monthly pensions while increasing the minimum monthly pension from N5,000 to N20,000.
He said the welfare of workers and pensioners remained a priority of his administration, citing timely payment of salaries, improved remuneration and measures aimed at strengthening the public service.
According to him, the state has maintained the practice of paying workers’ salaries on or before the 25th of every month while implementing the N71,000 minimum wage for civil servants.
Gov Yusuf also said his administration was sponsoring public servants for professional training, including programmes at the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), to strengthen their administrative and leadership capacity.
He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building a professional and motivated workforce, while ensuring that the contributions and sacrifices of serving workers and retirees were recognised and treated with dignity.
Kano Govt Orders Retired Civil Servants to Vacate Offices, Hand Over Government Property
Nigeria’s Data Demand Surges 47% as Stakeholders Seek Fresh Investment in Digital Infrastructure
Kano must make government procurement work for made-in-Kano
Kano Settles N32bn Pension, Gratuity Liabilities, Says Gov Yusuf
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