NCC Calls for Stronger African Regulatory Collaboration, Evidence-Based Telecoms Regulation

NCC Calls for Stronger African Regulatory Collaboration, Evidence-Based Telecoms Regulation

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called for deeper collaboration among African telecommunications and communications regulators to strengthen the use of data, evidence and market intelligence in driving more effective and responsive regulation across the continent.

The NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Aminu Maida, made the call at the Heads of Regulators Roundtable during the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Conference of Plenipotentiaries (CPL-26) in Abuja.

The disclosure was contained in a statement by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha.

Dr. Maida said communications regulation had become increasingly central to economic growth, digital transformation and national development across Africa.

He noted that while regulators operate within different market environments and legal frameworks, they face several common challenges, including infrastructure development, cybersecurity, affordability, satellite services, network resilience and the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence technologies.

According to him, exchanges among regulators often reveal shared experiences and lessons that can help institutions address complex policy and regulatory issues more effectively.

He stressed the need to make such knowledge-sharing more deliberate, systematic and beneficial to regulatory authorities across the continent.

“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,” Maida said.

The NCC EVC described the theme of the roundtable, “Building Africa’s Network Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation,” as timely and highly relevant to the future of communications regulation on the continent.

He said the event provided an opportunity to examine how better use of data, evidence and market intelligence could strengthen regulatory decisions and enable African regulators to learn more systematically from one another.

Chairing the roundtable, NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said developments in broadband expansion, satellite services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure were making communications ecosystems increasingly complex.

She noted that the growing complexity required regulators to move beyond traditional regulatory approaches.

Makama observed that regulators across Africa now have access to growing volumes of technical, market and consumer data, but stressed that the key challenge was translating such information into actionable intelligence capable of supporting better regulatory outcomes.

The Heads of Regulators Roundtable forms part of ongoing efforts by African communications regulators to promote evidence-based regulation, strengthen regional cooperation, and build more resilient, innovative and consumer-focused communications ecosystems across the continent.