FG seeks local production of mobile phones

Nigeria is actively seeking to boost its mobile phone manufacturing sector by offering significant business incentives to Chinese and local companies. The government aims to attract these manufacturers to establish production plants within the country, with a deadline of November this year.

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I want to begin where every honest conversation about affordability has to begin, with the gap between what we have built and what our people can actually reach.

Dr. Idris Olorunnimbe, Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission's board, announced the incentives at the Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai. He highlighted that the high cost of mobile devices, not network coverage or data prices, is the primary obstacle preventing many Nigerians from accessing the internet. Despite having over 170 million mobile connections and 150 million mobile internet users, a substantial portion of the population remains offline due to device affordability.

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Nigeria is the largest mobile market on the continent. We carry more than 170 million mobile connections, and over 150 million Nigerians now use mobile internet, close to two in three of our citizens.

This initiative is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's "Renewed Hope" agenda, which prioritizes the digital economy and views connectivity as essential infrastructure. Under the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, Nigeria is pursuing projects like Project BRIDGE for open-access fiber, technical training for millions of young people, a national artificial intelligence strategy, and a revised telecommunications policy. The Nigerian Communications Commission, led by Executive Vice Chairman Dr. Aminu Maida, is working to ensure market integrity, which is seen as crucial for affordability.

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And yet, by the GSMA’s own surveys, the single biggest barrier keeping Nigerians offline is not coverage, and it is not the price of data. It is the price of the device in their hands. That is the problem I came here to speak to.

Olorunnimbe emphasized that regulation and market integrity are fundamental to making a market affordable. He stated that a phone is only truly cheap if it is genuine, safe, functional, and comes with a reliable warranty. He criticized markets flooded with counterfeit and substandard devices, arguing they lead to repeated costs for consumers and do not offer true affordability. The government's strategy aims to create a trusted market environment where genuine devices are accessible.

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Nigeria’s President has placed the digital economy at the centre of his Renewed Hope agenda, treating connectivity as productive infrastructure for the whole economy rather than a luxury for a few.