The Nigerian Communications Commission has called for deeper collaboration among African telecommunications regulators to strengthen evidence-based decision-making across the continent.
Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, made the call in Abuja while opening the Heads of Regulators Roundtable.
The event was held on the sidelines of the African Telecommunications Union Conference Preparatory Meeting.
Maida said African telecom regulators operate under different legal systems, market structures and national priorities.
He, however, noted that many of the challenges facing regulators across the continent are similar and require coordinated responses.
According to him, regulators are increasingly dealing with issues beyond traditional telecom oversight.
He listed such issues to include investment, infrastructure resilience, satellite communications, cybersecurity, affordability, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
Maida said regular engagement among African regulators would help promote exchange of experience and strengthen regulatory institutions.
He noted that challenges faced by one regulator may have already been addressed by another country on the continent.
The NCC boss said the important task was to make such knowledge-sharing more deliberate, organised and useful.
The roundtable was themed “Building Africa’s Network Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation.”
Maida said the theme provided an opportunity for regulators to examine how data, market intelligence and reliable evidence could improve regulatory decisions.
He urged participants to discuss practical experiences, including successful initiatives and lessons from approaches that did not work.
He also called for collaboration to help African regulators avoid duplication of efforts.
According to him, Nigeria is ready to share its regulatory experience while learning from other countries.
Maida said the goal should be to develop practical solutions that can strengthen telecommunications regulation across Africa.
Also speaking, the NCC Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said Africa’s digital communications environment had become more complex.
She said the rapid growth of broadband, satellite services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure had changed the regulatory landscape.
Makama noted that traditional regulatory methods were no longer enough to respond to the realities of the modern digital sector.
According to her, regulators now have access to large amounts of technical, market and consumer data.
She said the bigger challenge is turning that data into effective regulatory decisions.
Makama said African regulators share common responsibilities in protecting consumers, promoting competition, attracting investment and ensuring resilient communications networks.
She added that the roundtable would help regulators exchange experiences, identify common challenges and improve cooperation among ATU member states.
The NCC commissioner said the commission would present its regulatory intelligence ecosystem during the meeting.
She explained that the system brings together quality of service data, quality of experience data, consumer complaints, compliance analytics and market intelligence.
According to her, the platform supports regulatory decisions by providing reliable evidence for policy and operational actions.
Makama said the system had already helped the NCC achieve measurable regulatory outcomes.
She encouraged participants to share ideas on improving data integrity and removing barriers to regulatory data-sharing.
She also urged African regulators to explore how advanced technologies can improve regulatory effectiveness.
Makama further called for discussion on better ways to measure real consumer experience beyond conventional quality of service indicators.
The NCC said stronger network intelligence, credible data and cross-border collaboration would be critical to building a more resilient and inclusive telecommunications sector in Africa.
