At a time when the ICT sector is most needed to bolster Nigeria’s ailing national economy, the
sector finds itself under considerable political and regulatory pressure, with the country sliding down global indices and some players even preparing to exit the market. After a decade of impressive ICT sector advancement following the liberalisation of the market in 2000, which led to its identification as a continental ICT leader, the telecommunications sector in Nigeria over the last three years has seen negligible network investment reflecting the decline of the sector. Against the backdrop of the economic recession of 2015/16, a dramatic slump in crude oil prices affected exchange rates negatively and indeed led to high government-set USD/NGN exchange rates, further increasing forex scarcity and constraining sectoral investment. This caused an escalation in the cost of equipment and a reduction in imports on which telecommunications infrastructure expansion depends
