The Federal Government of Nigeria, has outlawed the importation of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards into the country.
This was made public in a statement issued by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, on Monday, at Oniru, Lagos State.
He addressed the audience at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE), which was hosted by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Pantami said that the largest nation in Africa (Nigeria) shouldn’t be importing goods that could be made domestically.
“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 percent”, the minister noted.
He further urged stakeholders and citizens to support government initiatives to increase local patronage and consumption.
“If we do this, history will be kind to all of us”, the professor of Cybersecurity added.
Pantami had announced in June, that a SIM card manufacturing facility had been established in Lagos by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
The plant, which was constructed with assistance from the private business sector, has the capacity to produce 200 million cards per year, and also export to other African countries.
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