Abuja, Dec. 4, 2023 – Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), has assured law-abiding investors of support from NCC.
He said that law-abiding investors like Meta, formerly Facebook, would receive support from the commission.
Maida commended Meta for responding positively to the nation’s desire for investments that promote government’s agenda on digital economy.
A statement by Reuben Muoka, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, said Maida gave the assurance when he received a delegation from Meta led by Kojo Boakye, the Vice President for Africa, Middle-East and Turkey, during a courtesy visit in Abuja
The NCC boss said that the regulatory support would be predicated on adherence to existing rules and regulations.
He said the commission placed premium on compliance to industry laws and promotion of a level-playing field for licensees and stakeholders for healthy competition and growth.
Responding, Boakye informed the NCC boss that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate him on his appointment and to intimate him of ongoing efforts to land 2Africa Cable in Nigeria.
At 45,000 kilometres long, the visitor said the 2Africa submarine cable would be one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects to interconnect Europe (eastward via Egypt), Asia (via Saudi Arabia) and Africa.
He added that the system would go live this year, delivering more than the total combined capacity of all subsea cables currently serving Africa, with a design capacity of up to 180 terabytes per second (Tbps).
Boakye said 2Africa would deliver the much-needed Internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, supplement the fast-growing capacity demand in the Middle East and underpin further growth of 4G, 5G and fixed broadband access for billions of people, especially in Nigeria.
He solicited NCC’s support in sailing through all necessary legal and regulatory hurdles in landing the submarine cable to complement existing backbone infrastructure in Nigeria.
Boakye also said Meta, through a consortium, planned to land 2Africa cable simultaneously in Lagos and Akwa-Ibom states “in order to ensure those not yet connected are connected, while those already connected are given opportunity for enhanced and affordable access.” (GBN)
