Airtel Nigeria CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, has stated that the country’s telecoms market offers multiple growth opportunities, stating that with 78 percent mobile penetration in December 2014, there is massive untapped market potential.
Ogunsanya also revealed that the broadband adoption is set to rise. Ogunsanya disclosed that 47 million subscriptions are expected between December 2014 and December 2019. This is according to a report revealed by TelecomPaper.
In the report, Ogunsanya noted that strong growth is expected from mobile financial services over the forecast period. He said operators should ensure they are able to offer products to the large unbanked population of Nigeria, and predicted growing demand for mobile apps and e-commerce.
Ogunsanya also stated that Nigeria offers exciting opportunities for telecoms investors as a large population with rising incomes positions the country as one of the most attractive destinations for investment on the African continent.
Ogunsanya added that Nigeria has massive bandwidth capacity from the four undersea cables, which has yet to be exploited. This will provide opportunities to domestic and international investors to take advantage of the growing broadband and data industry.
He said key issues must be urgently resolved, though, for the Nigerian telecoms industry to reach its full market potential. These include spectrum availability and adequacy, government commitment to the National Broadband Plan, multiple taxation, reliable and cost-effective power supply, protection of infrastructure from vandalism, and mobile money restrictions.
Staff Writer
