Communiqué issued at the end of the 2020 Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) held at Oriental Hotel, Lekki on November 27, 2020
The 2020 edition of the Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) themed ‘5G: The Future is Here’ was held at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki, on November 27, 2020.
The forum had representations from the regulators including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigeria Communication Satellite Company (NIGCOMSAT), and Galaxy Backbone. Also in attendance were the telcos, OTT players, CEO of ICT companies, and other industry stakeholders.
In his welcome remarks at the forum, the convener and Editor-in-Chief of ICT Watch Magazine, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, highlighted the global impact of 5G technology, with a call on the experts to use the forum to discuss the expected impacts of the technology on Nigeria.
A keynote by the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, delved into the core of the 5G agenda for Nigeria. Four other lead papers were presented. The focus was on the impacts, benefits, and strategies as the country embark upon the 5G journey.
At the forum, the following were the consensus:
- That infrastructure sharing is key to the success of 5G rollout as no operator can go it alone. Besides, no company has enough resources to single-handedly deploy 5G.
- That the current challenge of infrastructure must be addressed to realise the full potentials of 5G.
- That the country needs more data centres, more metro fibres, and high capacity wireless access network, which are essential for 5G success.
- That 5G can lead to growth in healthcare, transportation, retail, agriculture, manufacturing, logistics among others.
- That the increased bandwidth of 5G will invariably help financial services (among other industries) to further step up their game.
- That 5G will facilitate several emerging technologies, generate innovative use cases, spur significant socio-economic growth, and create jobs.
- That 5G’s full socio-economic impact is dependent on access to a variety of spectrum resources, including millimetre-wave bands between 24 GHz and 86 GHz.
- That the regulators, civil society organisations, development partners, private businesses, and other stakeholders must collaborate in order to contribute to Nigeria’s digital transformation journey.
At the end of the forum, deserving ICT stakeholders were presented with the prestigious Africa Digital Award for their outstanding contributions to the growth of the industry.
