from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
LAGOS, (CAJ News) – INTERNET subscriptions in Nigeria have grown by 22 percent over the last 12 months to 153,8 million subscribers.
However, the ongoing National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise initiated by authorities is stifling this growth.
This is according to the market watcher, FBNQuest.
In December, it noted a decline in internet subscriptions, with 560 000 disconnected lines when compared with the previous month.
“We assume that NIN and SIM integration exercise impacted the figures,” FBNQuest stated.
“Based on anecdotal evidence, customers appeared to prefer managing just one SIM in order to avoid the stress-related issues linked to the NIN-SIM linkage process.”
Nonetheless, the 153,8 million subscriptions imply a density of 78 percent, in a population estimated at 198 million.
This places Nigeria well above the African average of around 16 percent, as indicated by McKinsey.
MTN Nigeria accounts for the largest share (42 percent) of total subscriptions.
Nigeria, the West African country, is the continent’s largest economy as well as the biggest nation in terms of population size.
– CAJ News