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GSM: Nigerians spend N2bn on
recharge cards daily-Survey
KEN NWOGBO
INDICATIONS
are that Nigerians are spending heavily on recharge cards, consuming about two
million of the telecommunication items worth almost N2 billion daily, our
investigations have revealed.
The estimated amount is expended on
prepaid Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication cards, fixed wireless
access recharge cards and international call cards.
Major phone and accessories dealers
nationwide have said they sell about two million recharge cards every day, and
given that the average unit cost of a recharge card stands at N1,000 the
estimated daily sale of the items would not be less than N2 billion.
Investigations indicate that despite
official figures that put the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita
for the year 2002 at only $330, Nigerians are spending freely on recharge cards.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
represents the total value of the goods and services produced by an economy over
some unit of time (a month, a season, a year.).
The huge expenditure makes the
telecommunications industry one of the most vibrant sectors of the economy and
indeed the fastest growing market in Africa. There are currently some 5.5million
lines for the country’s population of over 120 million people.
Nigeria’s GDP is among the lowest in the
world and well below the $568 average for Sub-Saharan Africa
Daily Champion gathered that an average
Nigerian’s spending pattern on recharge cards seems to suggest he or she is
better off than an average South African who enjoys a far better standard of
living and GDP.
The spending pattern, has bolstered the
balance sheets of the telecommunications companies which are reporting fat
trading results.
A leading GSM company for instance,
reported profit record in its second year of operation in excess of the N51
billion made by over 90 banks in the economy according to Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) annual report last year.
The development has also helped the
industry attain a record level of new telecommunications’ infrastructure
spending of US$1.5 billion in 2003, up from only US$132 million the previous
year and catapulted Nigeria into the top ranks of the biggest telecommunications
markets in Africa and the world.
Before the country’s telecommunication
revolutions in 2001, the industry was a monopoly ruled by the Nigeria
Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and like several government-owned
enterprises, the latter was unreliable in its services..
There were just 500,000 lines for
Nigeria’s teeming population despite making the first telephone contact with its
former colonial masters, Britain, as far back as 136 years ago.
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