Technology
Skills Gap Threatens Nigeria’s $75.6bn Telecoms Sector—Omobayo Azeez
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
If urgent steps are not taken, Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, believed to be worth about $75.6 billion, could be at risk because of the widening skills gap.
This was the submission of a renowned telecoms policy enthusiast, Mr Omobayo Azeez, at the just-concluded second edition of the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE 2023) organised in Lagos by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In his keynote address on Bridging Skills Gap to Accelerate the Indigenous Telecoms Development, Mr Azeez argued that the rising skills gap in the country was becoming a challenge to the sector.
He posited that telecom companies require sufficient professionals with skills in cybersecurity, data analytics, wireless network engineering, software development, fibre optics engineering, IP networking skills, cloud computing, and VSAT engineering, among others, to grow the industry further.
“The current existence of the skills gaps puts a strain on telecom firms, limiting their ability to expand, innovate, improve customer services or develop new products,” Mr Azeez said.
According to the Convener of Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), while the sector is growing in geometric progression, the workforce is depleting, a development he described as a ticking time bomb.
“Available data show a high global demand for tech-skilled workers, particularly in the telecoms sector. This is why the situation is even scarier for a low-middle income country such as Nigeria because high-income economies that desire similar skilled labour will always have their way enticing away capable hands and talents from here,” he stated, noting that, “This is happening already.”
He added that in 2022, operators in the sector lamented losing over 2,000 trained telecoms personnel in Nigeria to other countries, stressing that operators are finding the gaps difficult to fill as prospective applicants often lack the required knowledge and skill set to deliver while trained workers are leaving.
“This has hampered the rate at which operators recruit. For instance, operators across the GSM, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Value-Added Services (VAS), Fixed Services and other sub-segments of the sector have only employed an additional 679 workers in the last three years, which cannot serve licensees in the sector even at a one-to-one ratio.
“Whereas, the talks around 5G, edge infrastructure, internet of things (IoT) and smart city initiatives all demand more capable hands to innovate and undertake professional tasks to achieve the future aspiration of the sector,” he stated.
Speaking further, Mr Azeez, who doubles as Team Lead for Business Metrics Limited, highlighted the causes of the current skills gap in the sector.
According to him, they include defective educational systems, inadequate training programmes, poor remunerations, japa syndrome, global high demand for tech-skilled workers, government policies, and rapid technological advancements.
He encouraged industry stakeholders to leverage the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector (NPPIC), among other local content policies, to develop homegrown talents with skill capacities that are globally competitive.
“While effective collaboration is required between government, operators, and educational, research and training institutions to bridge the gaps, the process should begin with operators by putting in place training and internship programmes within their organisations to meet their immediate needs.
“Operators should also review employees’ remuneration and welfare packages to retain already groomed talents before they are enticed with better offers in foreign markets because labour follows the money. Expatriate quota requirements and succession plan should also be adhered to,” he added.
He further underscored investments in employees’ training and capacity building to maximise available talents, adding that investments in the workforce should be prioritised the same way as Capital Expenditure (CAPEX).
“It would be a gross injustice not to acknowledge young Nigerians for their ingenuity, skills and entrepreneurial spirit, but the current skills gap identified in the ICT and the telecoms sector must not be ignored and should be jointly tackled before it escalates from an operating threat to an existential one.
“Therefore, we should commit to grooming and retaining talents to attract more investments and secure the digital future of the country,” Mr Azeez concluded.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A leading telecommunications firm, Airtel Nigeria, has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure and data access to bridge gaps in connectivity and unlock new opportunities in the country.
The company gave this reassurance during a recent inspection tour of its ongoing Nxtra Data Centre at Eko Atlantic, Lagos.
The data centre is being established to deliver hyperscale and edge facilities across key African markets. With a load of 38 Megawatts, the Lagos facility is expected to serve as a major hub for data hosting, cloud services, content distribution, artificial intelligence, and enterprise solutions in West Africa.
“This Nxtra Data Centre in Lagos represents a critical part of our long-term vision for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. Today’s visit allows us to review progress, engage our stakeholders, and ensure that our infrastructure investments continue to meet global standards and local needs.
“This data centre will deliver critical high multi megawatt capacity in line with hyperscale customers and enable high density environment. We are putting the infra to bring the cloud to Nigeria,” the chief executive of Airtel Africa Plc, Mr Yashnath Issur, said.
Also commenting, the chief executive of Airtel Nigeria, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, said, “Since the announcement of this project, our focus has been on building a world-class facility that supports Africa’s digital transformation agenda.
“We are encouraged by the progress recorded so far and remain committed to delivering a secure, energy-efficient, and future-ready data centre for Nigeria,” reiterating that the data centre is progressing steadily towards the previously announced 2028 go live date.
On his part, the chairman of Eko Atlantic, Mr Gabbi Massoud, disclosed that, “Eko Atlantic as a city with high quality infrastructure will contribute positively to boost the economy of Nigeria and is a perfect place for the development of the digital infrastructure of Nigeria.
“The Nxtra data centre reflects the calibre of projects we seek to attract — long-term, technology-driven investments built to the highest global standards.
“Today’s visit affirms the rigour of the planning and execution process by Nxtra, and the commitment of Eko Atlantic to facilitate and promote the Nigeria’s evolving digital ecosystem.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A speech dataset designed to catalyze research and build more inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies has been launched by Google in partnership with a consortium of leading African research institutions, which are mainly universities.
The main universities involved in the project known as WAXAL are Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Ghana, and Digital Umuganda in Rwanda.
A statement from Google on Monday said the dataset bridges a critical digital divide for over 100 million speakers by providing foundational data for 21 sub-Saharan African languages, including Hausa, Luganda, Yoruba, and Acholi.
While voice-enabled technologies have become common in much of the world, a profound scarcity of high-quality speech data has prevented their development for most of Africa’s over 2,000 languages. This has excluded hundreds of millions of people from accessing technology in their native tongues.
The WAXAL dataset was created to directly address this gap. Developed over three years with funding from Google, the project features 1,250 hours of transcribed, natural speech, and Over 20 hours of high-quality, studio recordings designed for building high-fidelity synthetic voices.
The WAXAL dataset, which is available starting today, covers Acholi, Akan, Dagaare, Dagbani, Dholuo, Ewe, Fante, Fulani (Fula), Hausa, Igbo, Ikposo (Kposo), Kikuyu, Lingala, Luganda, Malagasy, Masaaba, Nyankole, Rukiga, Shona, Soga (Lusoga), Swahili, and Yoruba.
Commenting on the development, the Head of Google Research for Africa, Ms Aisha Walcott-Bryantt, said, “The ultimate impact of WAXAL is the empowerment of people in Africa.
“This dataset provides the critical foundation for students, researchers, and entrepreneurs to build technology on their own terms, in their own languages, finally reaching over 100 million people.
“We look forward to seeing African innovators use this data to create everything from new educational tools to voice-enabled services that create tangible economic opportunities across the continent.”
Also commenting, a Senior Lecturer at Makerere University’s School of Computing and Information Technology, Ms Joyce Nakatumba-Nabende, said, “For AI to have a real impact in Africa, it must speak our languages and understand our contexts.
“The WAXAL dataset gives our researchers the high-quality data they need to build speech technologies that reflect our unique communities. In Uganda, it has already strengthened our local research capacity and supported new student and faculty-led projects.”
An Associate Professor at the University of Ghana, Mr Isaac Wiafe, said, “For us at the University of Ghana, WAXAL’s impact goes beyond the data itself. It has empowered us to build our own language resources and train a new generation of AI researchers.
“Over 7,000 volunteers joined us because they wanted their voices and languages to belong in the digital future.
“Today, that collective effort has sparked an ecosystem of innovation in fields like health, education, and agriculture. This proves that when the data exists, possibility expands everywhere.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has disclosed that the country’s data protection ecosystem has grown to N16.2 billion within just two years of formal regulation.
The disclosure was made by the chief executive of the data regulating agency, Mr Vincent Olatunji, during a media workshop and capacity-building engagement held in Lagos recently.
He further said the growth reflects rising enforcement, compliance activity, and increasing confidence in Nigeria’s digital governance framework, even though the NDPC was not designed as a revenue-generating agency.
Mr Olatunji explained that regulatory compliance fees and enforcement actions under the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA), 2023, have created significant economic value while also contributing to government revenue and job creation across the country, noting that regulatory fees and sanctions after investigations have contributed over N16.2 billion to federal revenue while supporting an estimated 23,000 jobs nationwide.
“These investigations have resulted in 11 major enforcement actions, including significant financial penalties and corrective directives.”
“The message is clear: violations of data privacy will attract serious consequences, regardless of the size or status of the organisation involved,” Mr Olatunji stated, adding that the commission has concluded 246 investigations into data protection and privacy breaches across multiple sectors, signalling that enforcement will remain central to Nigeria’s data governance strategy.
Business Post reports that NDPC has over the last two years carried some sanctions against some top companies including a N766.2 million fine on MultiChoice Nigeria in July 2025 as well as Fidelity Bank, which was fined N555.8 million in 2024 for processing personal data without informed consent.
The NDPC Commissioner linked the Commission’s enforcement milestones to Nigeria’s broader ambition of building a $1 trillion digital economy.
He stressed that accountability and trust are foundational to digital transformation and long-term investment.
“Privacy enforcement is the foundation of digital confidence. By holding violators accountable, we are safeguarding citizens while creating the secure environment required for innovation, investment and sustainable growth,” he said.
He said the Commission has significantly expanded compliance structures across the economy to support this objective, moving beyond sanctions to system-wide institutional strengthening.
The NDPC has registered 38,677 Data Controllers and Processors of Major Importance, licensed 307 Data Protection Compliance Organisations, and received more than 8,155 Compliance Audit Returns.
In addition, the Commission has issued the General Application and Implementation Directive, which takes effect from September 2025, translated the NDPA into three major Nigerian languages, and launched a multi-sector compliance sweep covering banking, insurance, pensions, and gaming, with 1,348 entities already served with compliance notices.
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