LAGOS: The Minister of Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson has stated that Nigerian ICT companies must eliminate bottlenecks to be more attractive for listing in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, (NSE). Some of these bottlenecks include double taxation, right of way, site approval for base stations, among others which needs to be resolved with immediate effect. The minister highlighted the importance of this even with the N70 billion budget appropriations for ICT in the current financial year. She stated at the quarterly Chief Executive Officer's dinner at the NSE held recently in Lagos that the Ministry was committed to making the Nigerian ICT firms more attractive for listing in the NSE through creation of enabling environment. According to Johnson, the over-reaching objective of the ministry, was to increase the contribution of the ICT industry to GDP by 1 – 2 % by 205. She further added that there was need to stimulate demand of hardware, software and services through government procurement. The minister remarked that there should be maintenance of a conducive business environment for telecom companies to thrive.
