Nigeria is the largest telecom market on the African continent with more than 220 million mobile phone subscriptions. This makes it an important market for mobile manufacturers around the world.
As of July 1 , 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has cleared 2,155 phone models for sale in the country. The regulator says these various devices have been tested and have met the rigorous certification standards it has set.
China’s Transsion Group, maker of Tecno, Infinix and Itel, has 545 approved phone models, or 25% of the total number. The other models come from companies such as Huawei, Samsung, Nokia, Ericsson, Xiaomi, ZTE, Vivo, Apple, HTC, Wiko, Panasonic, Asus, Apple, Google, Gionee, Alcatel, Oppo…
The regulatory approval of the phone models is part of the NCC’s drive to crack down on counterfeit phones and substandard phones, which abound in Nigeria.
“ The threat of counterfeit and substandard phones has taken on a global dimension and requires significant consumer education and collaboration with other government agencies to address it,” noted Umar Garba Danbatta, Vice executive chairman of the NCC.
Recall that Nigeria is the largest telecommunications market in Africa with a population of 213.4 million inhabitants for 220.08 million mobile phone subscriptions, according to the latest official statistics.