ABUJA, Nigeria — The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called for closer cooperation among African telecommunications regulators to improve how data, evidence and market intelligence are used in making regulatory decisions.
Nnenna Ukoha, Director of the NCC’s Public Affairs Department, disclosed the position in a statement issued on July 22, 2026, following a meeting of regulatory leaders at the African Telecommunications Union Conference of Plenipotentiaries 2026 in Abuja.
Okay News reports that the discussion focused on how African regulators can respond more effectively to shared challenges involving broadband infrastructure, cybersecurity, affordability, satellite services, network resilience and artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the Heads of Regulators Roundtable, Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, said communications regulation now plays a central role in economic growth, digital transformation and national development across the continent.
He said regulators often confront similar problems even when they operate under different legal systems and market conditions.
“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.
He called for exchanges between regulatory institutions to become more structured so that lessons from one market can support policy decisions in another.
The roundtable was held under the theme, “Building Africa’s Network Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation.”
“It gives us an opportunity to consider how better use of data, evidence and market intelligence can strengthen regulatory decisions, and how African regulators can learn more systematically from one another,” Maida said.
Rimini Makama, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, chaired the meeting and said changes in technology were making communications markets more difficult to regulate through traditional methods alone.
“Developments such as broadband expansion, satellite services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure are making communications ecosystems increasingly complex and requiring regulators to move beyond traditional regulatory approaches,” Makama said.
She said regulators now have access to increasing volumes of technical, market and consumer information, but must develop the capacity to convert that data into intelligence that can guide enforcement and policy.
The NCC said the roundtable formed part of efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and support evidence-based regulation across African communications markets.
The regulator added that closer collaboration could help African countries build communications systems that are more resilient and responsive to consumers.
