Business
NCC hails Edo gov’t for safeguarding telecom Infrastructure during Construction
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commended the Edo government for its approach in safeguarding telecom infrastructure during road construction.
The NCC said that contractors notified the commission and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) before commencing road construction works.
The Executive Vice-Chairman (EVC), NCC, Dr Amimu Maida, who gave the commendation during a media breakfast meeting on Friday in Abuja, also urged other states to emulate Edo in reducing fibre cuts during construction.
“I would commend a particular state, Edo, its approach the matter.
“I will like to appreciate the state’s authorities in the way they have handled that collaboration in a very simple but effective manner.
“Their contractors, prior to starting any work, send out letters to the commission to inform all the telco service providers who own infrastructure to basically give them notice of work.
“That simple action has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of incidences that occur due to construction activities. So it is a model now that we are encouraging other states to adopt.”
On the quality of service that Nigerians are getting from service providers, Maida said that the commission was beginning to see positive signals through independent crowd-sourced data.
He, h, said that more work needed to be done.
“We are still not where we want to be, but we are beginning to see the right signals.
“The quality of experience is improving rather than services degrading, but at the same time, we are seeing a rise in consumption.
“We are still not where we want to be, but are we satisfied as a regulator? I think the area of satisfaction is the fact that we are beginning to see the right signals.”
The EVC said that operators upgraded about 2,800 sites last year across the three major operators, MTN, Airtel and Globacom, covering new sites, technology upgrades from 2G and 3G to 4G and 5G, and fibre additions.
He said operators had now committed to about 12,000 additional site upgrades and deployments this year.
“These numbers in terms of the work done also support this. Last year we saw just under 3,000 sites being upgraded and introduced for coverage and capacity.
“But this year they have committed to upgrading and introducing sites, which in total are about 12,000.
“This is across the three major operators, Airtel, Globalcom, and MTM. And this is a combination of new sites which have been upgraded from slower technologies, 2G, 3G, to 4G and 5G.”
On consumer protection, Maida said the NCC recently introduced a compensation directive for subscribers affected by poor service delivery.
He said the move was aimed at ensuring that consumers directly benefited, rather than government alone collecting financial penalties from defaulting operators.
“This is something that is going to be ongoing for those operators that are not showing commitment towards improving and addressing these issues,” he said.
He said that tower companies were also included in the directive, and are required to make additional investments in power and security infrastructure to support better service delivery.
In her remarks, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM), Rimini Makama, said that the quarterly engagement was organised to enable the media to properly inform the public.
“This quarterly interaction is being held precisely because we believe that a well-informed press produces a well informed public.
“A well informed public is one of the strongest tools we have for driving real progress in the telecom sector,” she said.
Earlier, the Director Public Affairs, NCC, Nnena Ukoha, said that the commission looked forward to frank, constructive conversations on telecom trends.
“It is my expectation that we will constructively utilise this platform for open and frank conversations, sharing insights on the emerging trends in the telecommunications industry.”
NAN
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The Bank of Industry (BOI) said it will expand financing for agriculture, local healthcare manufacturing and digital businesses in 2027.
The bank stated this as it seeks to consolidate the gains of its 2025–2027 corporate strategy and strengthen Nigeria’s industrial development.
The bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olasupo Olusi, disclosed the plan on Thursday at a meeting in Lagos, where he outlined the bank’s priorities for the final year of the strategy.
Mr Olusi said BOI would work with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on the National Industrial Finance Compact to attract more long-term capital into Nigeria’s industrial sector.
He also said the bank would deploy its new European Investment Bank facilities to agriculture and local healthcare manufacturing to increase domestic production of food and medicines.
The funding includes €85 million secured from the European Investment Bank for agriculture and another €50 million for healthcare manufacturing in 2026, as part of more than €2.2 billion in new funding the bank has secured for Nigerian industry since 2024.
READ ALSO: BOI supports 1.68m jobs as lending rises 26% to ₦644.9 billion
“We will deploy our new European Investment Bank facilities into agriculture and local healthcare manufacturing, so that Nigeria produces more of the food and medicines it consumes,” he said.
The bank also plans to expand its information and communications technology (ICT) and digital economy portfolio through the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
Mr Olusi said the initiatives formed part of the bank’s efforts to consolidate its achievements and meet the targets of its 2025–2027 corporate strategy.
“2027 is the final year of our strategy, and our task is to consolidate and meet every target we set,” the BOI boss, Mr Olusi, said.
BOI said it disbursed N644.9 billion in 2025, reaching 12,501 businesses and supporting 1.68 million jobs.
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First HoldCo Plc has appointed Gwen Mwaba as a non-executive director of the financial institution, effective 15 October, following an approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The lender disclosed the appointment in a regulatory filing signed by Abiola Baruwa, the group company secretary, on Thursday.
First HoldCo said the appointment was made in accordance with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Rulebook.
According to the lender, Ms Mwaba brings significant expertise in corporate governance and board oversight, credit risk and portfolio management, banking strategy, capital deployment, structured trade and commodity finance, development finance, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and emerging-market risk.
Profile
Ms Mwaba brings nearly three decades of experience in global banking and development finance institutions, with particular expertise in credit risk oversight, portfolio governance, corporate and sovereign lending, structured trade and commodity finance, development finance and emerging markets.
Until recently, she served as managing director of Trade Finance and Correspondent Banking at the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), based in Cairo, Egypt.
In that role, Ms Mwaba had executive leadership responsibility for trade finance and structured credit activities across Africa and the Caribbean.
The newly appointed director also oversaw a $19.5 billion portfolio of sovereign, financial institution and corporate exposures.
She contributed to the bank’s Pre-Credit and Credit Committees, providing senior credit judgement on major lending transactions. She also oversaw portfolio strategy, sector exposures and country risk limits.
Before that, Ms Mwaba served as regional head for Anglophone West Africa at Afreximbank, overseeing regional strategy and credit origination across Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia and Cape Verde.
Earlier, she was executive vice president of Structured Trade and Commodity Finance at Standard Bank Plc, London, where she was responsible for complex commodity finance, export credit agency-backed facilities and pre-export financing transactions across Africa.
Her earlier banking career included senior roles at Stanbic Bank Zambia and Standard Bank South Africa, including head of Vehicle and Asset Finance and head of Corporate Banking.
READ ALSO: CBN restates single-digit inflation target as FG woos investors with tax credits
Ms Mwaba’s wider industry experience includes membership of the editorial board of Trade Treasury & Payments.
Until recently, her also served on the Multilateral Institutions Board Advisory Panel of the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) and the World Trade Organization-led Expert Group on Trade Finance.
Ms Mwaba holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom.
She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and holds a professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Transport.
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