In a bid to foster growth in the telecom sector and attract foreign investments, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called upon States and Local Government Areas across Nigeria to decrease taxes imposed on telecom companies.
Dr. Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NCC, made this appeal during a media parley in Abuja. Highlighting the existing tax burden, he mentioned that telecom operators currently face a tax rate ranging between 50 to 55 per cent, emphasizing the difficulty in luring foreign investments, as directed by President Bola Tinubu.
Dr. Maida stated, “We are going to be going on an advocacy campaign to see how we can convince the states to remove some of these obstacles like Right of Way and multiple taxations because I have seen some studies which indicate taxation is almost 50% getting to 55% in some areas in this country. And you would agree with me that if we are trying to bring in foreign investment, that is not a good picture to paint.”
He appealed to states to reconsider, emphasizing the potential long-term benefits that could be reaped by allowing massive investments in the sector. Dr. Maida emphasized, “Imagine the economic activity that will be enabled if we build digital infrastructure in all our states. So we need to work together to remove some of these barriers and work towards building digital infrastructure.”
Assuring collaboration with stakeholders, Dr. Maida outlined the commitment of the Commission to tackle challenges for the overall development of the telecommunications sector.
In unveiling new strategies to reposition the telecoms industry, Dr. Maida emphasized that consumer satisfaction would be at the core of his strategy. He pledged to improve the quality of services offered by providers and increase investments in the sector.
Dr. Maida stated, “Consumers pay for their services and they expect high quality of service from the providers. Everything for me starts with the consumers. The expectation of the consumers is very simple, which is high quality of service. By this quality of service, we are talking about the whole quality of experience for consumers.”
He concluded, “One of the mandates given to us by the honorable Minister of Communication, which he also derived from the President and Commander-in-Chief, is that we need to attract more foreign investments into the sector. But there is no way we can do that if we are not satisfying the consumers because the consumers are the ones who pay for the services. This means the licensees can make their returns and investments. So we are going to be introducing some measures to help in this regard simply to improve the Ease of Doing Business.”
