The Federal Government of Nigeria has outlawed the importation of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami made this known on Monday at the Nigerian Telecommunications Indigenous Content Expo (NTICE) in Oniru, Lagos.
The conference was organised by the Nigeria Office for Developing Indigenous Telecoms Sector (NODITS) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
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According to Pantami, the ban was because Africa’s biggest country should not continue importing things that could be produced within.
“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 said.
He, therefore, advised stakeholders and citizens to support government efforts to boost local patronage and consumption.
“If we do this, history will be kind to all of us,” the professor of Cybersecurity again said.
Earlier in June, Pantami informed the public that the Buhari administration had established a SIM card-producing factory in Lagos.
It was gathered that the facility, built with private sector support, could produce 200 million cards annually and also serve other African nations.
