The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that the country's investment in the telecommunications sector has shot up from $18 billion in 2009 to $25 billion this year.

This is according to the NCC’s executive vice-chairman, Dr. Eugene Juwah, who made this statement while speaking about Nigeria's preparation to attend this year's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference to be held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in October.

In a bid to further boost investment in the country’s telco sector, the NCC boss has said that Nigeria has already booked a pavilion at the ITU conference and plans make presentations on the broadband opportunities in the country to top players in the global ICT industry.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest mobile market, with close to 100 million subscribers according to BuddeComm research. The West African nation is also mobile operator MTN’s biggest market, as the company says it has 43.184 million subscribers in the country: a figure that represents a sizeable chunk of the mobile operator's 176 million subscribers across Africa and the Middle East.

UAE telco, Etisalat, also has a significant operation in Nigeria, with 10.7 million subscribers at the end of 2011, according to the NCC.

However, there is huge potential for further growth in the country, as its mobile penetration rate stands at just 60% of the country’s 160 million population according to BuddeComm.