The country is turning more and more to the telecommunications sector while revenues from oil are falling. In the second quarter of 2022, the ICT sector contributed 18.44% to Nigeria’s real GDP.
The Nigerian federal government is set to earn 500 billion naira (USD 1.1 billion) from telecom frequency spectrum for 5G in 2023, Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, recently disclosed. during an interactive meeting hosted by the Senate Finance Committee on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Papers.
These forecasts are based on recent findings from the NCC, we learn. They will largely be realized from the auction of two 5G spectrums and the bidding process for the spectrum auction in 2023.
According to Danbatta, the NCC generated 318 billion naira in the second quarter of 2022 compared to 257 billion naira in the previous quarter. This growth in revenue was made possible by the payment by MTN and Mafab Communications of financial obligations related to the 5G spectrum they won in December. Each of the two companies disbursed the sum of 273.6 million USD.
Solomon Adeola, Chairman of the Nigerian Senate Finance Committee, said that the revenue promised by the NCC should notably enable the government to reduce the deficit projected in the 2023 budget. Indeed, the overall expenditure planned by the government for the financial year 2023 stands at 19.7 trillion naira for a budget deficit between 11.3 trillion and 12.41 trillion naira.