Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called for stronger collaboration among African telecommunications and communications regulators to enhance the use of data, evidence and market intelligence in promoting more effective digital governance across the continent.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, made the call at the Heads of Regulators Roundtable held during the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Conference of Plenipotentiaries (CPL-26) in Abuja.
Maida said communications regulation had become increasingly critical to Africa’s economic growth, digital transformation and national development.
He noted that although African regulators operated under different legal and market environments, they faced similar challenges, including infrastructure development, cybersecurity, affordability, satellite communications, network resilience and the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI).
According to him, regulators across the continent can benefit significantly from sharing experiences and lessons in addressing complex policy and regulatory issues.
“Very often, the challenge one regulator is trying to solve has already been encountered, in one form or another, by a colleague elsewhere on the continent,” he said.
Maida described the conference theme, “Building Africa’s Network Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation,” as timely and relevant to the future of communications regulation in Africa.
“It gives us an opportunity to consider how better use of data, evidence and market intelligence can strengthen regulatory decisions, and how African regulators can learn more systematically from one another,” he said.
Also speaking, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mrs Rimini Makama, said the rapid evolution of broadband expansion, satellite services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure had made communications ecosystems more complex.
Makama, who chaired the roundtable, said the changing landscape required regulators to adopt more innovative and evidence-driven regulatory approaches.
She observed that while regulators now had access to increasing volumes of technical, market and consumer data, the key challenge was converting such information into actionable intelligence capable of improving regulatory outcomes.
According to her, stronger cooperation among African regulators will support the development of resilient, innovative and consumer-focused communications ecosystems across the continent.
The Heads of Regulators Roundtable forms part of broader efforts by African communications regulators to strengthen regional cooperation, promote evidence-based regulation and enhance digital governance in Africa.
