President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, said Nigeria’s target to generate $547 million from the auctioning of 5G spectrum has been achieved.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had in October projected that the country would earn as much as $547 million from auctioning two more 5G network licenses.
President Buhari spoke at the commissioning of the National Shared Services Centre, a one-stop-shop for ministries, departments and agencies.
The centre is designed to facilitate an interface with citizens and houses a cyber-security operations centre, network centre and call centre.
The President, who was joined by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Alli Ibrahim Pantami, said he approved the suspension of the proposed 5 percent excise duty on telecommunications services in September.
Going ahead with taxation, he said, would have inflicted untold hardship on the populace.
“As part of our efforts to expand our digital infrastructure, we increased our 4G base stations from 13,823 to 36,751 from August 2019 to date.
“This has increased the percentage of 4G coverage across the country from 23 per cent to 77.52 per cent, also from August 2019 to date.
“We have also followed this up with the roll-out of 5G services.
“It is noteworthy that the digital economy sector has excelled in generating revenue for the government.
“In particular, at the Ministerial Retreat that I chaired from the 18th to 19th of October 2022, our independent analysts adjudged the digital economy sector to have generated 594 per cent of its revenue target from the 2019 baseline. This is very commendable.
“As part of these unprecedented achievements, the sector generated over $547 million dollars from the auctioning of the 5G spectrum alone”, the President said.
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