$1trn Economy: NCC Says Future Depends On Speed, Reliability, Affordability Of Broadband

$1trn Economy: NCC Says Future Depends On Speed, Reliability, Affordability Of Broadband

By Prince Benson Davies

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has reaffirmed its commitment to building a robust broadband infrastructure that guarantees digital inclusion for all Nigerians, describing connectivity as the foundation upon which the country’s quest for a one trillion dollar economy rests.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, stated this in his presentation at the 2026 Conference of the Finance and Business Online Publishers Association, FiBOP, held at the Orchids Hotel, Lekki, Lagos.

The conference was held under the theme Taxation, Industry, Insurance, Fintech, Trade and Investment as Catalysts for Nigeria’s One Trillion Dollar Vision.

Dr. Maida, who was represented by the Senior Manager, Regulatory Services, Mrs. Yetunde Adeyemo, said the Commission’s core responsibility is to ensure that the foundations for building robust broadband and ensuring digital inclusion are strong, resilient, inclusive and capable of supporting the scale of growth Nigeria seeks to achieve.

In his presentation entitled Impact of Digital Inclusion and Broadband Penetration in the Quest for a One Trillion Dollar Economy, Maida noted that broadband has become the infrastructure of modern competitiveness.

According to him, broadband enables trade, supports innovation, improves productivity, expands access to essential services, strengthens public institutions and gives citizens the tools to participate more meaningfully in the economy.

He explained that digital inclusion ensures that the benefits of this connectivity are not limited to major cities, large corporations or privileged groups.

He said digital inclusion means that a student in a rural community, a market woman in an urban centre, a farmer in a remote village, a startup founder, a teacher, a health worker, a publisher and a small business owner can all access and use digital services in ways that improve their lives and livelihoods.

That, he said, is the real promise of broadband, not connectivity for its own sake, but connectivity that expands opportunity.

Giving an update on sector growth and connectivity indicators, Maida disclosed that as of April 2026, active telephony subscriptions in Nigeria stood at over 188 million, with teledensity at 86.73 per cent.

He added that total active internet subscriptions stood at over 154.7 million, reflecting the growing importance of data connectivity in everyday life, enterprise operations and public service delivery.

He further stated that the quality of connectivity is also improving significantly. As of April 2026, Fourth Generation, 4G, technology accounted for 54.41 per cent of mobile technology usage in the country, while Fifth Generation, 5G, accounted for 4.34 per cent.

This development, he said, is significant because the future of digital inclusion depends not only on whether people are connected, but also on the speed, reliability, affordability and capacity of that connection.

The NCC boss stressed that a country seeking to build a one trillion dollar economy must move from basic access to meaningful access that can support digital payments, e-commerce, telemedicine, online education, cloud services, Artificial Intelligence, precision agriculture, fintech, creative industries and data-driven public service delivery.

He revealed that by the first quarter of 2026, the telecommunications sector contributed over 9.19 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, reinforcing the sector’s economic relevance through clear improvements in key connectivity indicators.

This, according to him, shows that communications infrastructure is not peripheral to national development. It is one of the foundations upon which the next phase of Nigeria’s economic growth must be built.

Speaking on infrastructure as the engine of economic transformation, Maida said every major economic transformation in history has been powered by infrastructure.

He noted that while the industrial economy was built on railways, ports, roads, power plants and factories, the knowledge economy is being built on broadband networks, data centres, spectrum resources, digital platforms and the ability of citizens, businesses and institutions to connect, communicate and create value.

For Nigeria, therefore, the aspiration to build a one trillion dollar economy is not merely a fiscal or macroeconomic ambition. It is also a connectivity ambition.

It is a question of how quickly we can extend digital access to every community, how effectively we can empower our people with digital tools and how deliberately we can convert broadband infrastructure into productivity, jobs, innovation and inclusive growth, he added.

He assured that the NCC will continue to work with stakeholders across government, industry and the private sector to deepen broadband penetration and ensure that no Nigerian is left behind in the digital economy.