Taiwo Popoola
Nigeria’s information, communication, and technology firms, including telecommunications companies in Nigeria, owed deposit money banks N1.69 trillion as of September 2024 amid telecommunication operators’s calls for a hike in the tariff payable by subscribers for data and voice calls.
This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s quarterly statistical bulletin.
The document from CBN indicated that the indebtedness of the telcos and the other ICT firms represents a year-on-year decrease of N68.04bn, or 3.9 percent, compared to the N1.77tn owed in September 2023.
The decline reflects the impact of the CBN’s repeated interest rate hikes, which have tightened monetary conditions and discouraged borrowing within the sector.
Month-on-month, however, there was a slight increase of N31.61bn, or 1.9 percent, from the N1.66tn recorded in August 2024.
The decline in credit to the ICT sector throughout 2024 can be attributed to the CBN’s tight monetary policies, which have raised the cost of borrowing.
The apex bank has consistently hiked interest rates in a bid to curb inflation, with its monetary policy rate standing at a record high for most of the year.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, who assumed office in September 2023, has overseen six interest rate hikes in 2024. From 18.75 percent in February 2023 to 27.50 percent in November 2024.
Interest rate hikes have an impact on the borrowing capacity of firms across the board.
Despite the ICT industry, like other critical sectors, having continued to play a major role in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product growth.
For instance, the activities of Nigeria’s ICT sector contributed 16.35 percent to Nigeria’s real GDP in Q3 2024, a decline from the 19.78 percent it added in the previous quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics Q3 2024 GDP report.
