NCC boss Maida stressed the importance of cooperation between African telecoms regulators

Executive Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Aminu Maida highlighted the need for telecommunications regulators across Africa to establish a more deliberate, systematic and beneficial exchange of experiences for their organizations.

Maida made this call on Tuesday at the Head of Regulators Roundtable event themed ‘Building an African Networked Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation’, which was part of the 7th Ordinary Session of the Conference Preparatory Committee (CPC-26) in Abuja.

EVC highlighted that communication has become very important for the economies of countries globally for various reasons, and noted that the challenges faced by regulatory bodies are complex.

“We may oversee markets of different sizes, function under different legal frameworks, and address different national priorities. However, the reality of our responsibilities is often very similar. In fact, discussions between regulators rarely take place in a relaxed manner over long periods of time,” he said.

“When someone asks about the situation in our country, within five minutes, we will be discussing investment, infrastructure resiliency, satellite services, cybersecurity, affordability, artificial intelligence, or the newest technology emerging just in time to challenge the regulatory framework we believe is finally taking shape.

“This shared experience is one of the main reasons why meetings like this are so important. Often, challenges faced by one regulator have already been faced by other regulators on the continent.

“Therefore, the real question is how we can make this exchange of experiences more targeted, systematic and beneficial for our institutions.

He stated that the Head of Regulators Roundtable offers a platform to explore how increased use of data, evidence and market intelligence can improve regulatory decisions, as well as how regulators in Africa can learn from each other systematically.

“I hope this will encourage open, practical dialogue between us. We should feel empowered to discuss what’s working, what’s not meeting expectations, and what collaboration can help us avoid solving similar problems over and over again if done in isolation.”

Additionally, Rimini Makama, Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management at the NCC, stated that the Head of the Regulatory Roundtable emphasized the use of data and evidence to make smarter, transparent and consumer-focused decisions, noting that the market has become increasingly complex.

“Broadband is expanding, satellite services are emerging, and technologies such as AI, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure are transforming our sector. Previous regulatory frameworks were designed for a simpler era and are no longer adequate,” he said.

“To proactively address problems rather than simply respond to them, we need reliable intelligence. So why are we gathered here today? Regulators across Africa now have more data than ever before, including technical, market and consumer data.

“The challenge is not in collecting data, but in how to turn it into better decision-making. As our digital markets become increasingly interconnected, we face the same challenges: protecting consumers, encouraging competition, attracting investment, and ensuring the resilience of our networks.

“Today, we have an opportunity to achieve three goals: share what has proven effective in practice for the NCC, identify shared challenges, and explore opportunities for collaboration among ATU member states.

“It combines multiple data sources into one location, ensuring that our decisions are based on evidence, quality of service, quality of experience data, consumer complaints, compliance analysis and market intelligence.”