“We know broadband has greater value and wider use cases, from connecting local government offices to supporting education, defence, healthcare and even fintech. The challenge is that we cannot do it alone,” Egerton-Idehen said.
Underutilised potential
Egerton-Idehen explained that despite Nigeria’s broadband penetration rising from 35 per cent in 2023 to 75 per cent, NIGCOMSAT’s broadband capacity remains largely untapped. She emphasised the need for stronger collaboration with private sector partners to bridge the gap.
She highlighted that NIGCOMSAT had successfully demonstrated capacity through special projects, such as providing internet to naval ships, moving vessels, and local government secretariats in remote areas where terrestrial networks are unavailable.
Under Project 774, the company connected 45 local government secretariats across eight states within two months, a feat she noted fibre cable operators could not match in terms of speed.
Call for partnerships
The NIGCOMSAT boss stressed that the organisation’s 250 staff members cannot cover the entire market, making channel partners and resellers vital for expansion.
“Our role is to provide the service backbone and support partners to take it to the market. We are not set up to compete directly with consumer operators because we don’t have engineers in every state to do installations and support. However, by working with partners, we can reach schools, health centres, fintech companies and government agencies across Nigeria and even in West Africa,” she explained.
She cited examples of other successful government-owned enterprises, such as Egypt’s NALSAT in the satellite sector and Nigeria LNG in the energy sector, noting that these prove government companies can be both impactful and profitable.
“For example, NALSAT makes about 150 million dollars yearly. If we focus and work with the right partners, our N8 billion target, which is only about three to four million dollars, is not ambitious at all,” she said.
More insights
Some stakeholders during the breakout session argued that NIGCOMSAT’s products were struggling to gain traction because the company was still seen primarily as a government agency, not a commercial entity.
They also raised concerns about growing competition, noting that global providers like Starlink had already captured a significant share of the market.
- To address this, they recommended that the Federal Government introduce policy frameworks mandating agencies and parastatals to patronise NIGCOMSAT instead of relying on foreign service providers.
Egerton-Idehen assured partners that NIGCOMSAT would provide technical support, co-branded marketing, and a flexible partnership model to help them grow with the agency. “This is the next chapter for NIGCOMSAT. We want to build it with you, our partners, because we cannot do it alone,” she said
Egerton-Idehen assured stakeholders that NIGCOMSAT will back partners with technical support, co-branded marketing, and a flexible partnership model, stressing that the next chapter for the agency depends on collaboration.
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