Abuja - Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited on Wednesday denied allegations that Africa's first communication satellite was missing in orbit.

Ahmed Rufai, Managing Director of the company, a public-private partnership, said that the satellite was powered down after technical problems were identified on Sunday night.

"We, in collaboration with our Chinese counterparts, identified some problems on Sunday and had to switch off the satellite to enable us to carry out fault analysis of the situation," he said, adding that the satellite was fully insured.

Chinese embassy officials in Nigeria declined to comment.

The Nigerian press had widely reported Wednesday that the satellite had disappeared in orbit.

The China Great Wall Industry Corporation built the satellite at a cost of 256 million dollars. It was launched from the Xichang space launch centre in south-west China's Sichuan province on May 14, 2007.

The satellite was designed to serve as the strategic backbone for Nigeria's communication industry.

It was also meant to provide the much-needed bridge to close the digital divide being experienced by African nations and provide the enabling platform for Africa to be relevant in today's information age and digital economy.

The NIGCOMSAT-1 project was designed to cover a host of requirements in sectors such as security and surveillance, banking, oil and gas, telecommunication, internet services, among others. (dpa)