Despite recent warnings from Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, the country’s telecom companies reported profits last year of $8.6 billion. The growth is being seen as a sign the industry in the African country is hitting its stride and analysts believe it could be an even better 2011 if current trends continue.
“These numbers were higher than we had expected, but we knew it was going to be a solid year for IT and telecom,” said Manuel Babal, a Lagos-based securities analyst. “The movement shows that the telecom sector in Nigeria is really booming and there is still a lot of work to be done.”
The numbers were reported by Pyramid Research, an international global intelligence company, and they said the figures show the country is heading in the direction of a prosperous future.
“These results reflect the rising status of the telecom sector as the third largest contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product in the non-oil sector, behind agriculture and trade,” Pyramid said in its report.
According to their figures, the telecom sector amounted to 8.2 percent of the GDP, which out performed manufacturing, banking and solid materials altogether.
Nigeria’s finance ministry said that the sector would maintain its solid contribution to the GDP in the coming years as competition remains strong.
“Growth in telecom and other services sectors is crucial to Nigeria attaining its aspiration of becoming one the 20 leading economies in the world by 2020,” Abimbola Adesanya, a telecom consultant, told Business Day in an interview published Monday.
By Staff
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