China’s Footprint on Nigeria’s Telecommunications Market: A Case of Huawei Technologies since 2000.

Abstract

The marked presence of Huawei in the Nigerian telecommunications market cannot be ignored in recent times. The Chinese private telecoms company has made an inroad into the Nigerian telecommunications market since 2000. In fact, it has been able through its telecommunications technology and expertise to expand its market tentacle in Nigeria vis-à-vis its products and services such as, cloud computing, smartphones and fiber optics network. This study takes a historical survey of Huawei’s impact on the growth and development of Nigeria’s telecommunications market. The study adopted a multidisciplinary approach of historical research and the findings of the work revealed that Huawei has to a very large extent contributed to the enhancement of Digital Divide in Nigeria through ICT education and training programmes. It also revealed that poor power generation, multiple taxation among many others are major challenges faced in Nigeria. The work concludes that the government should invest more in the provision of telecoms infrastructure in the country so as to aid more investment from Huawei. Huawei should not also limit its CSR operation on a specific area in Nigeria but rather spread it across the country. Huawei should also be encouraged to further engage more in technological transfer to Nigerians through its training programmes.