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Gwandu Urges Ethiopia to Learn from Nigeria’s Telecom Deregulation
Dr. Bashir Gwandu, non-executive chair of the Commonwealth ITU Group (CIG) and the former commissioner of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has advised Ethiopia to learn from Nigeria as it moves ahead to liberalize its telecommunications industry for private sector investment.
Dr. Gwandu stated this while delivering his lead keynote speech at the opening of the Innovation Africa Digital Summit (IAD) 2019 in Addis Ababa last week graced by telecoms executives and governments from Africa and around the world.
Senior executives from Vodacom Group, MTN Group, Etisalat, Safaricom, France Orange, Vodafone, ZTE, Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco, Airbus, Helios Towers, OneWeb, Mastercard, Intelsat, Thuraya, IBM, IFC, and several others attended the summit which also attracted Ministers from Africa, most especially the West and East Africa sub-regions.
The summit was opened by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accompanied by some of his Ministers. It was anchored by Extensia of the UK -co-organiser of the IAD Summit. The period of the conference coincided with the time a proclamation is being tabled before the Ethiopian Parliament for debate and consideration to liberalise the country’s telecom sector.
According to Reuters, Ethiopia’s telecoms market is considered to be ‘the big price’ and the last greenfield site in a push to liberalise, and end a state monopoly as well as open-up one of the world’s last major closed telecoms markets.
In his speech at the conference, Dr. Gwandu dissected the telecoms market privatisation and liberalisation processes breaking the issues logically from the point of producing succinct legal frameworks for both the privatisation, and that of the telecoms regulation, right down to the market design and to the choices available to the government when it comes to competition planning up to the spectrum management and eventually service providers regulation.
He stated the need for strong and good regulatory framework, encompassing sensible set of rules that encourages investment and protects the consumer and requiring, effective, professionally competent and sufficiently empowered as well as sufficiently financed regulatory institution.
He emphasize that “Good enable laws are not just sufficient but government support must be total and not half-hearted, coupled with adequate funding that would attract good manpower to the regulator.”
Dr. Gwandu, a former acting executive vice chairman at NCC opined that government role should be restricted to policy formulation whilst a strong, independent regulatory authority should provide stable, transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory access to telecommunications resources in a timely manner.
He said the legal framework apart from guaranteeing independence of the regulator, must enable flexibility of the regulator whist remaining predictable, efficient, effective and accountable. “It should be the role of the regulator to ensure the existence of competition in all segments of the market devoid of market abuse or the exercise of significant market power by the participants” he said.
Gwandu emphasized that, “Liberalization of telecom market is essential for rapid network growth as experienced by other countries and private sector participation is essential for attracting investment. Innovation and new technologies in the telecoms sector is fast moving, it cannot wait for slow government bureaucracy to be approving investment funding and yet compete effectively.”
Bashir Gwandu stated that in looking holistically at the telecoms market, international segment should be examined where the complimentary options of international optical fibre and satellite links can be made available in a competitive manner.
According to him, international gateway liberalization and national backbone planning should ensure ubiquitous availability, open access, and finally on the last mile the spectrum remains key in view of the lack of sufficient last-mile fixed infrastructure.
He further stated that “Mobile is the largest technology platform in human history and mobile broadband is the most dynamic segment of the last mile market. Spectrum is a critical resource for mobile broadband but is only valuable if it is effectively deployed to enable appropriate networks and services for socio-economic benefits to citizens.”
Gwandu emphasised further that as wired infrastructure is limited in Africa except perhaps in South Africa, it is expensive to install. Wireless technology on the other hand is easier and faster to deploy and remains critical to expanding broadband access, and spectrum access is critical for wireless broadband deployment, and capacity.
“Robust wireless broadband requires various bands and appropriate slots size for assignment, the slot size determines how many towers an operator will need to cover the area, or re-use pattern or indeed how soon break-even will happen, how sustainable or profitable the telco will be etc” he said. He cited the mistake made by Nigeria in providing just over three megahertz (MHz) to Code Division Mobile Access (CDMA) operators and expected them to perform.
At the international level, he encourage Ethiopia to participate actively in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and African Telecommunications Union (ATU) activities to enhance regulatory harmonisation, thereby promoting economies of scale and enhancing cooperation on roaming, interoperability, Internet exchange points, and development of backhaul infrastructure.
He posited that Ethiopia should align spectrum release and technology neutrality roadmap to enable flexibility in investment, and in spectrum auction process, he advised the government to set objectives properly and to balance pricing of spectrum with rollout obligations.
“For rapid expansion of networks, Ethiopian government which controls land across the country should streamlined approval for Right of Way (RoW) and site acquisition, and to make the process a simple and one-stop shop activity” he admonished.
He also stated that tax holiday has proven to be useful in some markets but even more importantly, multiplicity of sector specific taxes should be avoided and that the multiplier effect of deferred-taxation will lead to more tax revenue from the sectors that are supported by the telecoms.
Furthermore, Gwandu stated that competition planning should be examined carefully so that resulting companies should remain sustainable –and in selling spectrum, the regulator should ensure appropriate sizes, and also not to sell out all available spectrum at once, which will reduce chances of corrective measures in respect of future competition corrective-intervention.
The Ethiopian government thought it wise to invite telecoms experts from around the world, potential Investors and other market players to partake in the unique forum that examined the best practices that the country can learn from, in its quest to restructure and open its telecoms market for foreign participation.
Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has issued a Public Health advisory on the spread of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM).
It said that the caution is particularly for states within the African Meningitis belt.
In a statement by the Corporate Communications Division of NCDC urged all Nigerians to remain vigilant and adopt preventive measures.
The statement said: “As Nigeria continues through the peak dry season months, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) alerts the public to the ongoing risk of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM), particularly in states within the African meningitis belt.
“Cerebrospinal meningitis occurs more frequently between December and April, when dry, dusty conditions, overcrowding, and poor ventilation increase the risk of transmission.
“The NCDC urges all Nigerians to remain vigilant and adopt preventive measures. Surveillance and response activities remain ongoing nationwide, and laboratory testing is being conducted at the state level while national laboratory capacity is being strengthened.
It explained that Cerebrospinal meningitis is a serious infection of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
According to NCDC the affliction is most commonly caused by bacteria, particularly Neisseria meningitidis.
“Bacterial meningitis can progress rapidly and may be fatal within hours if untreated.
“However, early diagnosis and prompt antibiotic treatment significantly improve survival and reduce complications. CSM spreads through respiratory droplets during close contact, especially in overcrowded or poorly ventilated environments.”
It said that symptoms to watch out for include sudden high fever, severe headache, and neck stiffness.
It said other symptoms may include: nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light, confusion or altered consciousness and seizures.
For In infants and young children, NCDC said the symptoms could bulging soft spot on the head.
The Centre said that early recognition and treatment can save lives.
According to a Kaspersky report “Mobile malware evolution,” the number of Trojan banker attacks on Android smartphones increased by 56% in 2025 compared to the previous year*.
This type of malware is designed to steal user credentials for online banking, e-payment services and credit card systems. Cybercriminals commonly distribute Trojan bankers through messaging apps, as well as through malicious webpages.
The number of new Trojan banker installation packages for Android (unique APK files) also increased sharply, reaching 255,090 packages – a 271% increase over 2024. This may indicate that these tools generate substantial profit for cybercriminals.
Kaspersky experts believe threat actors will continue both to expand delivery channels and develop new Trojan variants trying to evade detection by security solutions. Among all detected Trojan bankers, the leading families were Mamont and Creduz.
“Although Trojan bankers for smartphones are the fastest-growing type of malware, we also observed another important trend: preinstalled backdoors such as Triada and Keenadu appeared more frequently compared to previous years. People purchase completely new, but infected, Android devices and may be unaware of the threat.
Once integrated into the firmware fully functional preinstalled backdoors provide attackers with unlimited control over the victims’ smartphones and tablets. As a result, all information on infected devices can be compromised.
It’s quite difficult to remove such malware. If the device is infected, we recommend users check for firmware updates. After the update, run a scan of the device with a security solution again to make sure newly installed firmware is not infected,” comments Anton Kivva, malware analyst team lead at Kaspersky.
Federal Government has said it now has the capacity to identify and apprehend foreigners who overstay their visas in the country.
Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during the 2026 Sectoral Performance Review Retreat of the Federal Ministry of Interior.
Tunji-Ojo said the government now possesses comprehensive data that enables authorities to track individuals who have entered the country over the past decade and determine those who have failed to comply with their visa conditions.
According to him, the development followed the establishment of an Integrated Operations Centre and a Network Operations Centre by the Nigeria Immigration Service.
The minister, however, said the FG will go after foreigners who have overstayed their visas, adding that outside of the country, Nigerians are not being spared.
He said, “In NIS, I know we are doing a lot already. As of today, we have been able to build our Integrated Operations Centre and the Network Operations Centre, which we never had before.
“With that, we can access, in the last 10 years, everybody who has entered, where you came from, everything, we have all your records, we have everything, we know the exact people who have overstayed in our country, and we will go after them, with due respect, because, outside of Nigeria, they go after the irregular immigrants and we think we have to protect the sanctity of our borders,” the minister stated.”
The minister also stressed the need for reforms across agencies under the ministry, including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, to ensure services are delivered transparently and without corruption.
Tunji-Ojo said the goal of government institutions should be to protect citizens, particularly the most vulnerable in society.
NSCDC provides protection in an organised and corruption-free manner, where the son of a nobody will have the same opportunity as the son of anybody in government.
“If you are a businessman or there is a genuine threat to your life, you should be able to access protection without going through the minister, the Commandant General, or anyone else. It is only then that we can truly say we have a service that works for Nigerians.
“Nigeria should not be about selective service delivery. The essence of government is to protect everyone, with greater emphasis on protecting the weakest in society, ” he said.
Speaking on correctional reforms, he argued that a system where individuals repeatedly return to custody reflects a failure of rehabilitation.
“Anybody who goes in there must be reformed and transformed,” he said, adding that the objective was to reduce cases of repeat offences to the barest minimum.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Magdalene Ajani, emphasised the importance of accountability in leadership.
She said leadership was about “devotion, promises, performance, and impact,” noting that the ministry’s agencies play critical roles that affect the daily lives of Nigerians and therefore require transparency and effective service delivery.
The move to go after foreigners who overstay their visas comes amid renewed efforts by the Federal Government to strengthen border management and enforce immigration regulations across the country.
This definitely would allow immigration authorities to track the movement of travellers and identify individuals who remain in Nigeria beyond the duration permitted by their visas.
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