Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Mr Idris Olorunnimbe, has pledged to seek presidential incentives for investors ready to build smartphone factories in Nigeria.
Olorunnimbe made the pledge in a statement on Saturday, following his remarks at the Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai on June 24.
He had earlier called for stronger private-sector participation in Nigeria’s digital economy and manufacturing ecosystem at the Summit.
He said attracting local smartphone manufacturing would help reduce the cost of devices and create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
Olorunnimbe added that local manufacturing would also help expand digital inclusion by making quality smartphones more affordable and accessible to ordinary Nigerians, especially young people, students and small business owners.
According to him, the initiative will also deepen Nigeria’s industrial base, strengthen local value chains, stimulate ancillary businesses and reduce the country’s heavy dependence on imported devices.
The NCC board chairman noted that heavy dependence on imported devices currently exposed consumers to high prices and supply disruptions.
He said manufacturers that commit to starting factory construction before November would receive government support to facilitate their investments, adding that the NCC was prepared to help connect serious investors with the right policy and regulatory backing.
“If any manufacturer in this room, or any manufacturer listening to these proceedings will commit to building a factory in Nigeria, and to beginning construction between now and November, I will take that commitment to the President myself and seek the waivers and the support you need to make it happen.”
He said local manufacturing remained the most sustainable solution to Nigeria’s smartphone affordability challenge, noting that the country could no longer rely solely on imported devices, if it wanted to close its digital access gap.
Olorunnimbe explained that producing devices locally would reduce exposure to foreign exchange volatility because a greater share of production costs would be denominated in naira rather than in foreign currencies, which often drove up retail prices when exchange rates fluctuate.
According to him, this will help stabilise smartphone prices over time, improve predictability for consumers and make devices more accessible to millions of Nigerians who are currently priced out of the market.
He added that the policy could also position Nigeria as a regional hub for device assembly and technology manufacturing, while creating opportunities for engineers, technicians, logistics providers, component suppliers, retailers and other small businesses across the supply chain.
He acknowledged that previous attempts at local smartphone production struggled because of poor product quality, weak after-sales support and limited consumer confidence, which made many Nigerians continue to prefer imported brands.
“The aim is to build phones in Nigeria that match the imported phones on quality and beat them on price. A locally made device that asks Nigerians to settle for less is not worth making,” he said.
The NCC chairman said Nigeria had more than 170 million mobile connections and over 150 million mobile internet users, describing the figures as evidence of the country’s huge market potential for device manufacturers.
He, however, said smartphone affordability remained the biggest obstacle preventing many Nigerians from participating fully in the digital economy, especially in areas such as online learning, mobile banking, e-commerce, digital work and access to government services.
Olorunnimbe said the Federal Government’s digital economy agenda had created the foundation for greater investment in telecommunications infrastructure and local manufacturing, and that the next step was to convert policy ambition into practical industrial growth.
He said the commission was also strengthening consumer confidence through improved device regulation and market oversight, so that Nigerians could trust the phones they buy and use them without fear of fraud, poor performance or safety risks.
According to him, the refreshed Type Approval Regulations and the proposed Device Management System would curb counterfeit, cloned and stolen devices, while also improving traceability and accountability in the handset market.
“A phone is only truly cheap if it is real, if it is safe, if it connects properly, and if it carries a warranty the buyer can rely on.”
Olorunnimbe also advocated wider smartphone financing through instalment payment schemes, saying Nigerians should not be forced to pay the full cost of a device upfront before they could afford to own one.
He said such financing models, when combined with local manufacturing, could significantly accelerate digital inclusion by allowing more people to acquire smartphones gradually while supporting domestic production and retail growth.
He urged governments, regulators and industry stakeholders across Africa to promote local production, harmonise device standards and expand access to affordable smartphones.
The NCC board chairman said the continent must work together to build a stronger and more self-reliant digital economy.
Smartphone affordability: ALTON backs NCC’s call for local device manufacturing
Meanwhile, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has backed the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) call for local smartphone manufacturing to accelerate digital inclusion.
The ALTON Chairman, Mr Gbenga Adebayo, made this known to newsmen on Saturday while reacting to the NCC Board Chairman, Idris Olorunnimbe’s call for local smartphone production and innovative financing.
Adebayo described the proposal as a practical measure capable of accelerating broadband adoption and expanding digital inclusion across the country.
He said Nigeria must deliberately transition from being predominantly a technology consumer to becoming an innovator, designer and manufacturer of digital technologies.
According to him, Nigeria’s large telecommunications market and youthful population provide the scale and human capital needed for world-class technology manufacturing.
The ALTON chairman said the country’s ambition should extend beyond assembling smartphones into developing complete technology capabilities across the value chain.
“Our ambition should extend beyond assembling devices.
“We must pursue genuine knowledge transfer, research and development, product engineering, software development, semiconductor capabilities and large-scale manufacturing,” he stressed.
He said the objective should be producing devices and digital technologies for Nigeria, Africa and the global market.
Adebayo said the emergence of Artificial Intelligence had further strengthened Nigeria’s opportunity to become a competitive technology manufacturing hub.
He said AI was transforming product design, manufacturing, quality assurance, supply chain management, customer experience and software innovation.
According to him, investing in AI-enabled manufacturing will improve productivity, create high-value jobs and strengthen Nigeria’s competitiveness across Africa.
Adebayo also supported Olorunnimbe’s position on tackling the proliferation of counterfeit and non-type-approved devices through stronger market integrity.
He described the grey market as a major challenge affecting consumers, Original Equipment Manufacturers and the wider telecommunications ecosystem.
According to him, robust local manufacturing supported by strong quality standards will provide credible alternatives to grey-market imports.
He said effective type approval, competitive pricing and consumer confidence would encourage wider acceptance of locally manufactured smartphones.
“This will strengthen consumer protection, improve network performance, retain greater value within our economy, and stimulate industrial growth,” he said.
Adebayo also endorsed innovative smartphone financing, stronger device management systems and identity-enabled credit frameworks.
He added that the initiatives would enable more Nigerians to acquire quality smartphones through affordable payment models.
According to him, telecom operators remain ready to partner government, manufacturers, financiers, academia, investors and development partners to build sustainable local manufacturing.
The ALTON boss described the initiative as a national economic transformation agenda capable of creating jobs and strengthening Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy.
Earlier at a Digital Africa Summit Roundtable in Shanghai, Olorunnimbe had said Nigeria’s biggest digital inclusion challenge was no longer network coverage or the cost of data but smartphone affordability.
He said affordable smartphones had become the “new on-ramp” to education, healthcare, financial services, e-commerce and digital government.
He urged for coordinated action on local manufacturing, trusted devices, financing and policy reforms to accelerate broadband adoption and unlock Nigeria’s digital economy.