China dominates, as Nigeria spends $2.3bn on import of phones in three years

Data from the International Trade Centre show that over a three-year period, Nigeria imported phones worth $2.35 billion.

According to the data, the nation imported phone sets worth $807.95 million in 2019, $765.57 million in 2020, and $772.25 million in 2021.
The imported telephone equipment included smartphones, teleprinters, facsimile machines for line telephony, and other items.

The numbers also showed that China ($1.71 billion at the time of inspection) accounted for the majority of phone sets entering the country.

The country also imports goods from other countries like Mexico, Hong Kong, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, Hong Kong, and others.
According to data from Original Equipment Manufacturers, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) recently disclosed that 63 million technology devices were sold in Nigeria annually.

The commission revealed that there were about 132 million unique devices on the nation’s telecommunication network in 2020 with the average owner changing a device every six months.

According to Counterpoint Research’s Global Monthly Handset Sales Tracker, the annual smartphone sales in Nigeria grew by 81 per cent year-on-year in 2021.

The Nigerian phone is dominated by foreign players such as Tecno, Samsung, and Itel.