>
By Emmanuel Adeleke
The Federal Government has banned the importation of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards into the country.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, disclosed this at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE), in Lagos.
Pantami said Africa’s biggest country should not be importing things that could be produced within.
“Let me make it clear that the Federal Government will no longer tolerate the importation of sim cards. We are now producing them in Nigeria.
“Our aim is to increase indigenous content in the ICT sector so that by 2025, we will be self-reliant by at least 80 per cent,” the minister said.
He urged stakeholders and citizens to support government’s efforts to boost local patronage and consumption.
Pantami had in June announced that the present administration has established a SIM card manufacturing plant in Lagos.
The facility, built with private sector support, has the capacity to produce 200 million cards annually and also export them to other African countries.
Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE) organised by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).