Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has said the 50 per cent tariff increase for telecommunication companies will guarantee meaningful access to their services for Nigerians.
He said this while briefing State House Correspondents on Thursday in Abuja.
The minister had led Sunil Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel and other members of the executive of the company, to a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Tijani said the decision to increase telecoms tariff was difficult, but added that it was the responsibility of the government to look out for the interest of citizens, individuals and businesses.
“We have to ensure that when they invest, we can keep them afloat. This is a sector that employs close to half a million people in this country, including the value chain.
“Also, it was quite a difficult decision, balancing the need to allow these businesses to be sustainable, to stay afloat, but at the same time ensuring that each and every citizen can have access to telecommunication services,” he stated.
According to Tijani, the Federal Government engaged KPMG to conduct a study to determine the optimal tariff allowance which led to the 50 per cent increase.
“If we chose not to allow the increase in tariff, we also were at risk of losing jobs, and some of the companies packing up. When you weigh that, it’s also not the best thing for the economy.
“The priority for this government is actually meaningful access. We don’t want our people to just have access to telecommunication services. We want it to be meaningful; the quality that you get is extremely important,” the minister added.
He said the Federal Government had invested in 90,000 kilometres of fibre to ensure the entire country was covered.
The minister added that the Federal Executive Council had also approved investment in additional 7,000 telecoms towers in rural areas.
According to Tijani, quality access and connectivity required significant investment.
He said it behoved the Federal Government to encourage the private sector to continue to make such investment.
Mittal, on his part, said Nigeria was the soul of Barthi Airtel’s operations in Africa, with the potential to match India’s advancements in digital innovation, connectivity and financial inclusion.
According to him, Airtel’s success in Nigeria was crucial to its overall success in Africa.
Mittal said Nigeria’s strategic importance underscored Airtel’s objective of driving growth and transformation across the African continent.
“Nigeria is the most important part of our Africa strategy. In fact, the entire Africa rests on the back of Nigeria for Airtel,” he said.
