“SIM-NIN linkage will continue to slow telecoms growth”
The growth of the Nigerian telecommunications sector will continue to be slowed down by the policy of linking the National Identification Numbers to mobile numbers, the Nigerian National Coordinator of the Alliance for Affordable Internet, Olusola Teniola has said.
The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed last week that the ICT sector grew by 7.86 per cent in Q1 2021, 1.07 per cent lower than the 8.94 per cent recorded in Q1 2020 and 8.46 per cent lower than the rate recorded in Q4 2020.
The sector contributed 14.91 percent to aggregate real GDP in Q1, higher than the contribution of 14.07 percent in Q1 2020 but lower than 15.06 percent recorded in Q4 2020.
“The impact of the SIM-NIN policy will slow down growth. The NIN requirement will slow down the ability to register SIMs legally, which will affect contribution to NIN, because not every Nigerian has NIN.
In December 2020, the sale and registration of new SIM cards was banned by the Federal Government and a December 30 deadline for people to link their National Identity Number with their SIM cards was set. This has since been moved to June 30, 2021.
The number of active telephone lines fell to 192,081,282 in March 2021 from a high of 207,578,237 in October last year, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.
