Nigeria’s new phone registry threatens rising smartphone prices

Nigeria is moving to make every mobile phone in the country traceable through the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Device Management System (DMS). By requiring SIM-enabled devices to be registered via their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers before sale or network connection, the system aims to weed out stolen, cloned, and unapproved imports—bringing unprecedented oversight to a traditionally informal market.

Yet the policy poses a critical question: how much regulation can the device market absorb before consumers bear the cost? While…