Nigerian govt bans sim card importation

The Nigerian government has banned the importation of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards into the country.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami disclosed this on Monday during the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE) in Oniru, Lagos.

Speaking at (NTICE) organized by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Pantami said Nigeria should not be importing things that the country can produce within.

Pantami urged stakeholders and citizens to support government efforts to boost local patronage and consumption.

“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.

Pantami added that, “If we do this, history will be kind to all of us.”

Recall that Pantami, in June, had informed the public that the President Muhammdu Buhari administration had established a SIM card manufacturing plant in Lagos.

The facility is built with private sector support and can produce 200 million cards annually.

The professor of Cybersecurity added also disclosed that the facility could export sim cards to other African countries.