The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has been appointed a member of the 27-member Presidential Council on Digital Economy and e-Government (PCDEeG).
Danbatta’s appointment into the Council, chaired by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, confirmed the centrality of NCC in the digital economy ecosystem and the leading role Danbatta has been playing as the country’s chief telecom regulator in the implementation of various digital economy policies of the Federal Government.
On November 28, 2019, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), 2020-2030 was unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari.
This was followed by the launch, in March, 2020, of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP), 2020-2025, among several other digital economy policies, including the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector (NPPIC).
Indeed, the coordinating secretariat for the implementation of the NNBP is domiciled at NCC and the implementation arm, the Broadband Implementation Steering Committee (BISC), is chaired by NCC’s Executive Commissioner Technical Services, Engr. Ubale Maska.
The Commission has also instituted a lot of regulatory initiatives with Danbatta’s leadership, to enhance effective implementation of NDEPS and other policy actions connected to NDEPS, such as the Nigeria Office for Developing the Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS), saddled with the responsibility of implementing NPPIC, which is also domiciled in and staffed by NCC.
Danbatta has also put in place and has since led the implementation of NCC’s Strategic Management Plan (SMP) 2020-2024, and the Strategic Vision Implementation Plan (SViP) 2020-2025, both documents representing Commission’s intention to streamline the implementation of the broader state policies relating to the telecom ecosystem.
Through effective regulatory regime emplaced by the NCC, the country has continued to achieve improvement in broadband penetration which stands at 42.79 percent as at April, 2022. It is expected that greater penetration will be recorded, as the Commission, supported by critical stakeholders, continues with diligent execution of the various digital economy policies.
President Buhari inaugurated the PCDEeG on Thursday, June 9, 2022 with the main purpose of meeting regularly to provide strategies on how the government will continue to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of the economy. The Council is also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring improvement in Nigeria’s ranking on ease of doing business.
With the inauguration of the Council, it is expected that far-reaching measures and recommendations shall be made to the Federal Government, from time to time, on how the various challenges affecting the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry can be addressed in order to ensure that Nigeria harnesses the digital culture for her socio-economic prosperity.
