The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, has called on telecommunications regulators across Africa to strengthen collaboration through a more structured exchange of knowledge and experiences to improve regulatory outcomes across the continent.
Maida made the call on Tuesday while speaking at the Head of Regulators Roundtable, held as part of the ongoing 7th Ordinary Session of the Conference Preparatory Committee (CPC-26) in Abuja. The roundtable was themed, “Building Africa’s Network Intelligence Ecosystem for Evidence-Based Regulation.”
He said the rapid evolution of the communications sector and its growing importance to national economies have made regulatory responsibilities increasingly complex, despite differences in the size of markets and legal frameworks across African countries.
According to him, regulators across the continent are confronted with similar issues ranging from infrastructure investment and network resilience to satellite services, cybersecurity, affordability, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
“Although our markets differ, the realities of regulation are remarkably similar. The challenges faced by one regulator have often already been experienced by another somewhere on the continent,” Maida said.
He stressed that the key challenge is creating a more intentional, systematic and mutually beneficial platform for regulators to learn from one another instead of addressing common problems in isolation.
The NCC boss noted that the Head of Regulators Roundtable provides an opportunity for African regulators to examine how better use of data, evidence and market intelligence can improve regulatory decisions while encouraging practical collaboration among member states.
“I hope this session encourages open discussions on what has worked, what has not, and where collaboration can help us avoid repeatedly solving the same problems independently,” he said.
Also speaking, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, underscored the growing importance of data-driven regulation in an increasingly complex digital ecosystem.
She observed that the rapid expansion of broadband, the emergence of satellite services, and the adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital public infrastructure have outpaced traditional regulatory approaches.
“The regulatory frameworks of the past were designed for a much simpler era and are no longer sufficient for today’s realities,” Makama said.
She explained that while regulators now have access to unprecedented volumes of technical, market and consumer data, the real challenge lies in transforming that data into smarter, transparent and consumer-focused regulatory decisions.
Makama noted that African countries continue to face common challenges, including consumer protection, promoting competition, attracting investment and ensuring resilient communications networks.
According to her, the roundtable seeks to enable regulators to exchange proven regulatory practices, identify shared challenges and strengthen cooperation among member states of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU).
She added that the NCC has developed an integrated intelligence framework that consolidates quality of service and quality of experience data, consumer complaints, compliance analytics and market intelligence to support evidence-based decision-making.
