Nigeria is preparing to make mobile phones in the country traceable through the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Device Management System (DMS). The system will require SIM-enabled devices to be registered using their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers before they are sold or connected to Nigerian networks.

The policy is intended to identify and block stolen, cloned and unapproved imported devices, bringing greater oversight to a market that has traditionally relied heavily on informal trade. It also raises concerns about how much additional regulation the device market can absorb before the cost is passed on to consumers.

While the NCC is targeting smuggling and non-compliant imports, tighter controls could affect legitimate importers, small-scale traders, repair shops and consumers already facing high smartphone prices. The implications extend beyond telecommunications compliance. Mobile phones are the primary gateway to the internet for many Nigerians, meaning the cost and availability of devices directly affect digital access.

Research from the GSM Association found that more than 140 million Nigerians lived in areas with 3G, 4G or 5G coverage but did not use mobile internet in 2025. The research attributed this largely to an inability to afford an internet-enabled smartphone or a lack of digital skills. That affordability gap is the backdrop against which the device registry debate is unfolding.

A phone is now more than a communications device. It can function as a bank branch, an identity document, a point-of-sale terminal, a schoolbook, a work tool and an entry point into the digital economy. Any policy that changes the price or availability of handsets can therefore affect businesses, education, financial services and employment well beyond the telecommunications sector.

How the DMS will work

Under the DMS framework, licensed importers must obtain NCC type approval, upload device IMEI numbers and purchase invoices to the DMS portal, pay a validation fee and obtain a pre-authorisation QR code. The Nigeria Customs Service will verify the document for duty assessment before the device is whitelisted for use on Nigerian networks.

The initial phase will focus on registering existing inventory and onboarding devices imported in the future. The NCC has said that phones not duly registered will not be allowed to operate on Nigerian networks.

“By establishing a central registry of the International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers of devices in Nigeria, the commission will be better positioned to ensure effective and efficient compliance with its Type Approval requirements,” said Edoyemi Ogoh, the NCC’s director of technical standards and network integrity.

Ogoh said the registry would also help ensure that devices imported, sold and used in Nigeria meet the required standards.

The NCC has attempted to distinguish device identification from surveillance. The commission says the platform will store device information, including IMEI numbers, but will not give the regulator access to the contents of a user’s phone or private communications.

Potential effect on prices

The most immediate concern for consumers is the possible effect on handset prices. The commission has discussed administrative validation charges of about ₦670 ($0.51) per IMEI for lower-cost and feature phones, and slightly more than ₦3,700 ($2.80) for high-end devices.

Those amounts may appear small compared with the price of a premium handset. However, in a market where a few thousand naira can determine whether a consumer buys a basic phone, an older used device or no phone at all, even a relatively small additional cost can matter.

Handset prices have already risen significantly. Budget phones have increased from ₦50,000–₦100,000 to 75,000–₦150,000. Mid-range devices have risen from ₦180,000–₦350,000 to ₦250,000–₦500,000, while premium handsets now cost more than ₦1 million ($751).

Inflation, foreign-exchange volatility, global component costs, shipping, taxes, logistics and weak consumer purchasing power have driven those increases independently of the DMS. Enforcement of the system has not yet begun, so the validation charge does not explain the existing price rises. Nevertheless, the new fee will be added to a supply chain that already carries several costs.

A senior official involved in stakeholder engagements around the system, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said the fee itself should not be the main concern because importers, rather than retailers or consumers, would pay it. For an expensive device, the official said, a ₦3,700 charge should not materially affect the final retail price.

The official said the greater risk was that importers could use the new charge to justify much larger price increases.

“The fear of the retailers [is] that the importers would not transfer that exact cost,” the official said. “When the importer pays the ₦3,700 for a device, he would then add ₦15,000 ($11.28) to the price of the device or ₦20,000 ($15.05).”

In an inflationary economy, a new charge may not be passed to consumers on a one-for-one basis. Businesses can increase prices to account for uncertainty, foreign-exchange exposure, financing costs or market power. From a consumer’s perspective, the distinction between a ₦3,700 regulatory charge and a ₦20,000 ($15.05) increase may have little practical significance if both appear in the final price.

Bringing informal imports into the formal system

The government’s interest in the DMS extends beyond consumer protection. It also wants better visibility into the mobile-device trade, particularly the flow of phones entering Nigeria through informal channels.

Small dealers can carry several phones in personal luggage from markets in Dubai or China. Informal networks can move larger volumes through routes that do not always produce a complete paper trail. Once a handset reaches a retailer and is paired with a registered SIM, consumers may find it difficult to distinguish it from a device imported through official channels.

The DMS is intended to disrupt that process. By requiring device identity and invoice information before a phone can be cleared and activated, the system would make an unregistered handset less commercially useful if it could not connect to Nigerian networks.

A spokesperson for the Nigeria Customs Service told TechCabal that the system could close loopholes that have allowed devices to enter the country without proper declaration.

“With this new policy from the NCC, that will be a thing of the past,” the spokesperson said. “We are working with the NCC to make sure it is successful.”

If implemented as intended, the DMS would connect three parts of the device trade that have often operated with gaps between them: importers, Customs and mobile networks.

An official involved in stakeholder discussions said many importers do not declare the full number or value of devices entering the country. The official said the new system would require closer alignment among IMEI records, invoices and Customs declarations. That claim, made during regulatory consultations, requires independent validation through Customs data.

For the NCC, the DMS is a way to formalise a sector that has operated in the shadows for too long. For Customs, it could improve the reliability of import declarations. Licensed distributors could benefit if the system narrows the advantage enjoyed by competitors who avoid duties and other regulatory requirements.

For smaller businesses, however, the same process could feel less like formalisation and more like exclusion.

Challenges for small traders and repair businesses

Nigeria’s device market includes more than multinational manufacturers and established distributors. It also depends on traders, repair technicians, refurbishers and micro-importers. Some bring in only a few devices at a time. Others source used phones through personal contacts or keep older handsets in circulation by repairing them.

The NCC’s position is that a business’s small scale does not remove the need for compliance. Anyone trading in communications devices is expected to hold the appropriate licence, regardless of transaction volume. The commission has provided a window for existing stock to be registered and for businesses to regularise their status before full enforcement begins.

Those requirements may be easier for large importers to absorb than for traders operating on thin margins. Compliance costs, documentation requirements and possible delays could affect businesses that lack the staff and systems available to larger distributors.

Used and repaired phones create another complication. The DMS does not prohibit lawful transfers of ownership, but repairs can affect a device’s technical identity. A legitimate repair that changes a phone’s IMEI could create problems if the resulting identity is treated as suspicious or unrecognised.

The issue is particularly important in a market where repair and refurbishment extend the useful life of devices and provide lower-cost alternatives for consumers. The system’s treatment of changed or unclear IMEIs will therefore be central to whether legitimate repair businesses can continue operating.

Questions about the need for the registry

Diseye Isoun, chief executive of internet service provider Content Oasis, believes the DMS may be attempting to address several separate problems through a single mechanism.

“There is already what I believe is a relatively effective SIM registration regime in the country,” he said. “All phones have an IMEI, and all phones have a SIM that is tied to a specific individual and any number of all the information required by the telcos to collect when you issue a SIM.”

Isoun does not argue that Customs enforcement or device standards are unnecessary. Instead, he believes questions involving, import declarations and device regulation should be handled separately.

“There are passive ways in which NCC can collect information on what phones are being used as we speak, without any additional intervention,” he said. “What phones are being used, what companies, what models, what brand of phone is being used—all of that can already be done with the existing structures.”

His broader objection is institutional. He argued that addressing under-declaration should primarily be the responsibility of agencies responsible for imports and border controls.

“This battle of importers is not a battle for NCC to fight,” Isoun said. “It is a battle that the importation agencies of Nigeria should be dealing with.”

The criticism highlights the central policy challenge. The NCC has a mandate to regulate communications equipment and enforce type approval. It also seeks to prevent cloned and non-compliant devices from affecting network performance and consumer trust.

At the same time, device supply chains are also Customs, tax and consumer-access supply chains. A system can be technically sound but still create new problems if it does not provide workable compliance routes for smaller businesses and consumers.

The implementation test

The NCC says the DMS is not intended to create another barrier but to automate existing compliance requirements. The commission says the framework is based on the Type Approval Business Rules issued in August 2024 and provisions of the Nigerian Communications Act that require relevant manufacturers, suppliers and providers to obtain approval before communications equipment is sold or used.

The commission has phased the rollout after stakeholder consultations identified implementation gaps. Officials said existing stock would not be subject to the device-validation fee during the onboarding period. These adjustments indicate that the regulator recognises the risk of disruption.

Several practical questions remain. What happens when an imported device is rejected after shipment? How will consumers deal with used phones whose histories are unclear? What happens when a legitimate repair changes a device’s identity? Who bears the loss when a phone is blocked by mistake or because an imported unit carries a cloned IMEI? How those questions are resolved once enforcement begins will shape the system’s early record.

The DMS will ultimately be judged not by the number of phones it registers, but by whether it can reduce illegal imports and counterfeit devices without making it more difficult to buy, sell and repair legitimate phones.