LAGOS — THE Federal Government has given approval to 14 Nigerian companies for the manufacture of recharge cards for telecommunications operators in the country.
In a press release by the Head of Public Affairs of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dave Imoko, NCC indicated that the 14 qualified firms were selected from a list of 27 local firms which applied to manufacture the product in the country.
The approved firms are: Security Printing and Allied Solutions, Masterstroke, Airtel Ltd., Nitecrest Ltd., Card Technologies Ltd., Namitech West Africa Ltd., Snecou Group of Companies, South Beach Company Ltd., Control Cards Ltd., and Advantel Ltd.
Others are Premium Ideas Ltd., Hemmung Investment Ltd., Alfa Juliet Mangla Ltd., and Orga Ltd.
In approving the list, NCC indicated that the award of contract for the printing of recharge cards to any of the approved companies is entirely a business matter between the operating companies and the manufacturing companies.
The commission also explained that the issuance of permits for the manufacture of recharge cards is not a once-and-for-all process as NCC would closely monitor the performance of the approved companies that have been granted the first batch of permits as well as the supply-demand equilibrium. Further permits, it added, may therefore be granted in due course in response to the dynamics of the market, and decision of government.
In May, the Federal Government announced the decision to ban importation of recharge cards into Nigeria with effect from 1st January 2005. President Olusegun Obasanjo then assigned the responsibility of ensuring that the directive is implemented in due time to the Minister of Communications, Cornelius Adebayo.
The minister summoned a stakeholders meeting to discuss how to ensure prompt implementation of the policy directive of the Federal Government. At a meeting of the stakeholders later summoned by the minister, it was unanimously agreed that it was possible to manufacture recharge cards requirements locally but the minister indicated that sanity must be brought into the process by ensuring that credible companies with the necessary expertise were approved to manufacture the products.
To qualify, the companies were required to collect application forms and provide detailed information about their business plans, experience and financial capability, and other relevant information.
