The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has announced that Nigerians will face a 30-60 percent increase in the cost of calls, data, and other telecommunications services.
Speaking on Tuesday while responding to questions Channels Television’s Politics Today, Tijani explained that the increase in call and data tariffs is necessary to sustain investments critical to the growth of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector and overall economic development.
“The telecommunications tariff increase should not be more than 30 to 60 percent,” Tijani said.
“The sector is about investment in infrastructure; the technologies are changing, so you have to keep investing in technology. Things like 3G will be decommissioned at some point because you have higher technology, so they have to keep investing in equipment. And we all know that there is inflation.” the minister noted.
The minister emphasized that continuous investment in advanced technologies is essential to keep the sector competitive and ensure Nigeria attracts foreign capital.
“For us, as we are protecting them, we want to keep importing capital in the sector. The foreign direct investment in our sector in the first quarter of 2024, driven by telcos, was close to $199 million; this is bigger than the entire inflow in 2023. We can’t get to a $1 trillion economy if mobile network operators are investing at a snail’s pace,” he stated.
The tariff hike follows Tijani‘s earlier confirmation that telecom service costs in Nigeria would increase, albeit not by 100 percent.
