NCC moves to reposition telecoms industry, rolls out new corporate governance code

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday formally unveiled a telecommunications sector Corporate Governance Code specifically targeted at protecting the over $25 billion investment recorded in the industry.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony in Lagos, on Thursday, Eugene Juwah, executive vice chairman, NCC, said the code became necessary to reposition the sector, to enable it contribute even more to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Telecommunications was the star performer in Nigeria’s rebased GDP figures. The telecoms and information services sector contributed 8.68 percent to the

Nigerian economy equivalent to N6.97 trillion out of the total rebased GDP estimate of N80.22 trillion. This compares with N364..4 billion in the 2012 non-rebased GDP time series.

Juwah said the corporate governance principles of accountability, responsibility, transparency, integrity and ethical conduct, independence, among others, are important for all types of companies operating in the telecoms industry whether public or private, large or small.

“The requirement for good corporate governance does not wane on account of size or type of business affiliations”, he stated.

“Shareholders and other stakeholders are now placing higher demand on companies to demonstrate these principles. Thus, NCC is determined to promote corporate governance for the telecommunications industry,” Juwah said.

Giving insight into how the journey to develop governance code began, the NCC EVC explained that in June 2013, the commission organised the second stakeholders’ consultation on corporate governance, with the theme ‘Enhancing Stakeholders Responsibility’.

The first consultation was held in April 2012 with the theme ‘Corporate Governance in the Telecommunications Industry–Compliance with Standards, Processes and Procedures’ where it was highlighted about the absence of a common code to which all telecommunications operators should abide.”

Juwah said to address the gap NCC inaugurated the Corporate Governance Working Group (CGWG) in October 2012, whose members were drawn from the operating companies, the commission and corporate governors.

The NCC boss noted that the telecommunications sector is of strategic and high impact significance to the economy at a macro level and has considerable reach at the micro level.

He said this is made up of a wide range of operators with diversity in size, scope of operations, asymmetry qualifications, legal and regulatory requirements, capital market activities as well as local and cross-border relationships.

“The combined factors of the strategic importance of telecommunications and the unprecedented growth of the sector (over 130 million mobile subscribers) with extensive reach across all social and demographic groups in the Nigerian economy make it imperative that operators in this critical sector must uphold a code of corporate governance, which is specific to their industry.”

In her address, Omobola Johnson, the minister of communications technology, represented by a director in the ministry, John Ayodele, noted that the main challenge for corporate governance is to create a system that holds decision makers accountable while according proper respect to their position in the company.

BusinessDay