ALTON backs NCC push for local smartphone manufacturing to boost digital inclusion
By Aboki Forex —
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Communications Commission's drive to promote local smartphone manufacturing.
ALTON described the move as a practical step that can speed up broadband adoption and expand digital inclusion across the country.
ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo spoke to journalists on Saturday. He was reacting to comments by NCC Board Chairman Idris Olorunnimbe, who had called for local smartphone production and innovative financing to close Nigeria's digital inclusion gap.
What Adebayo is saying
Adebayo said Nigeria must move from being a technology consumer to becoming an innovator, designer and manufacturer of digital technologies. He pointed to the country's large telecom market and youthful population as the scale and human capital needed for world-class manufacturing.
He said Nigeria's ambition should go beyond assembling imported components into finished devices.
“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 said.
He added that the goal should be producing devices and digital technologies for Nigeria, Africa and the global market.
Adebayo explained that the rise of artificial intelligence has strengthened Nigeria's chance to become a competitive tech manufacturing hub. AI is transforming product design, manufacturing, quality assurance, supply chain management, customer experience and software innovation.
He said investing in AI-enabled manufacturing would boost productivity, create high-value jobs and strengthen Nigeria's competitiveness across Africa.
On the issue of counterfeit and non-type-approved devices, Adebayo called the grey market a major challenge for consumers, original equipment manufacturers and the wider telecom ecosystem. He said robust local manufacturing backed by strong quality controls would help tackle the problem.