General News
Investing for growth By Engr. Gbenga Adebayo
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has made the vital decision to allow Telecom companies to increase their tariffs for the first time in more than 12 years. It was a brave decision that should be recognised and commended.
All the customers of our member operators are understandably disappointed that they will have to pay more to stay connected. We recognise that. We know that Nigerians have been through a series of even more substantial price increases in other sectors like fuel and power.
That is why it is so important for us to set out why the tariffs need to go up, how the revenue from the price increases will be used and how long it is going to take us to deliver the improvements that our customers will be able to see and appreciate.
The telecom sector is capital-intensive. It requires constant investment to maintain the infrastructure that we use to deliver connectivity, ensuring that we can deliver the quality of service that our customers demand and continue to upgrade to the latest technologies like 5G.
In 2024, the telecoms sector faced a perfect storm. The need for our member operators to continue to invest in their infrastructure remained, but the cost of operating their networks increased significantly. In isolation, that might have been manageable, but it followed 12 years of progressively increasing costs during which they could not increase prices.
Despite that, the telecoms industry has continued to grow. We have been able to expand voice connectivity, introduce world class data services and diversify into value added services like payments and platforms. But at some point, something had to change if we want to have the digital economy we all know Nigeria deserves.
While we have continued to invest, we were not able to do so at the speed and scale that we would have liked to ensure we deliver service quality at the levels we want, or to roll-out the products we want our consumers to have access to. In 2024, the significant losses across the industry meant that investment slowed considerably to a level that would be simply unsustainable for Nigeria going forwards.
The process of securing the price increases was a long and deliberate one, under the strong leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NCC and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani. It was a process that sought to find the right balance that unlocks investment, while minimising the impact on consumers. Our collective goal has been to enable the investment needed to give Nigerians the best service, while continuing to do so at a price that is as competitive as possible from a global perspective.
The 50% increase is a reflection of this, and it is important to assess how this compares to our regional contemporaries. Following the increase, the cost of 1GB of data in Nigeria will remain lower than it currently costs in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa and will be just 9.5% of the cost of 1Gb in the USA. Nigeria will continue to have low-cost connectivity that enables the broadest possible access.
Following the decision, all our member operators will now be able to activate investment plans that will drive improved quality of service, new technologies and expanded reach. But the impact of this will not be felt immediately. It is not something we can just switch on. We cannot address a protracted period of under-investment overnight. The supply chain for the telecom industry is global and competitive. The hardware required must be fabricated by the original equipment manufacturers, shipped to Nigeria, cleared and installed, and this needs to happen at a large scale.
Following the tariff increase, the acquisition, importation and installation of the equipment can now begin. All our member operators have planned for this moment. We know what to do.
The journey to improved service delivery, more advanced technical solutions and a better customer experience has started. The progress Nigeria has made in the growth and development of the digital economy can, and will continue, and the potential to drive social and economic transformation is incredible. We believe in that vision, and the government does too. They have recognised its strategic importance and demonstrated the leadership required to put us on the path to progress.
All hands are now on deck!
Engr. Gbenga Adebayo is the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is reportedly nearing completion of a $2.5 billion private placement that values the company at about $40 billion ahead of its planned public listing.
Private placement is the direct sale of company shares or bonds to pre-selected investors instead of the general public and it is used to raise money quickly while avoiding strict public reporting rules.
People familiar with the transaction said investors acquired as much as 6 per cent of the refinery, according to a BusinessDay report.
The reported terms would value the business at approximately $40 billion.
Neither Dangote Group nor the refinery has publicly announced the final amount raised, the identities of most subscribers or the precise percentage sold.
The figures should therefore be treated as transaction details supplied by unnamed sources rather than confirmed company disclosures.
The reported $2.5 billion total is nevertheless significant as it indicates strong demand for exposure to a privately controlled refinery that has rapidly become central to Nigeria’s fuel supply and an increasingly important exporter of petroleum products.
The placement was said to have attracted more demand than the available shares, allowing the company to secure substantially more than the amount initially associated with the fundraising exercise.
Femi Otedola, chairman, First HoldCo, is the only major participant publicly identified in the report.
He reportedly committed $100 million to the transaction and sold his investment in Geregu Power Plc to finance the acquisition.
Nigeria’s pension industry was also reportedly cleared to participate.
Access to more than $17 billion in retirement assets would broaden the refinery’s potential investor base beyond wealthy individuals and conventional institutional buyers.
Participation by Pension Fund Administrators would, however, require careful attention to valuation, liquidity and portfolio-concentration limits.
Retirement funds must balance the attraction of a large Nigerian industrial asset against their responsibility to protect contributors’ savings.
The implied $40 billion valuation represents investor expectations about the refinery’s future earnings rather than only the physical cost of constructing the facility.
Its ability to process 650,000 barrels of crude daily gives it a central role in supplying Nigeria and other markets, but its commercial performance remains connected to crude availability, product prices, exchange rates and regulation.
The refinery has struggled to obtain all the Nigerian crude it requires under the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.
It has consequently purchased some feedstock internationally and recently moved local petroleum-product pricing into dollars to align sales revenue more closely with its foreign-currency expenses.
Those constraints will be important during any public offering.
Prospective shareholders will want greater clarity on crude-supply contracts, debt, operating margins, export revenue and the company’s relationship with Nigerian regulators.
It is also unclear whether the private placement involved newly issued shares, a sale by existing owners or a combination of both.
That distinction determines whether the reported $2.5 billion becomes fresh capital for the refinery or proceeds received by selling shareholders.
The transaction could provide a useful price reference for the planned initial public offering.
Federal government will next month launch Nigeria’s first national organized crime strategy to strengthen the country’s response to terrorism, cybercrime, human and drug trafficking, kidnapping, illicit financial flows, and other forms of organized crime.
Major General Adamu Laka, national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre under the Office of the National Security Adviser, disclosed this in Abuja during the validation of the strategy document.
He said the strategy provides a coordinated national framework for tackling organized crime through improved intelligence sharing, stronger collaboration among security agencies, and closer cooperation with the criminal justice system, civil society organizations, and international partners.
Major General Laka explained that the document was developed through a partnership involving the Federal Government, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States Government, and other stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, Cheikh Toure, UNODC representative, said the strategy would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to combat transnational crimes, including drug trafficking, cybercrime, human trafficking, kidnapping, and illicit financial flows.
Also speaking, Douglas Grane, acting director of the United States Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, reaffirmed the U.S. government’s support for Nigeria’s efforts to tackle organized crime through stronger inter-agency and international cooperation.
Representatives of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, and the National Cyber Security Centre also endorsed the initiative, describing it as a major step towards improving Nigeria’s fight against organized crime.
FATE Foundation, with funding from the Citi Foundation, has launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Programme to equip young people in Nigeria with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills.
Delivered through free, safe, and accessible platforms, the programme supports the incubation and scaling of youth-led enterprises, enabling income generation and job creation.
In October 2025, FATE Foundation was selected as a recipient of Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge to Accelerate Youth Employability. Joining the cohort of 50 organisations globally, the Foundation will receive $500,000 over two years to advance its youth employability initiative.
“We are excited to be selected for Citi Foundation’s 2025 Global Innovation Challenge,” said Ayomide Akindolie-Igwe, Executive Director of FATE Foundation.
“This support enables us to equip young entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the financial literacy and skills needed to build and scale sustainable businesses.”
The programme addresses youth employability by tackling Africa’s growing jobs crisis. By 2030, the African continent will be home to 40% of the world’s youth, and with one in three under 35 already unemployed, this initiative will support Nigerian youth with a two-phase approach. It begins with financial literacy training before progressing to entrepreneurship development, incubation support, and access to tools needed to build viable, job-creating businesses.
“Through this innovative initiative, FATE Foundation is supporting low-income Nigerian youth to develop essential financial and entrepreneurial skills using accessible platforms.
“This support is not just helping individuals to succeed; it is building a solid foundation for sustainable enterprises that will drive job creation and contribute significantly to our nation’s economic vitality. This initiative is empowering and investing in the future of Nigeria, one youth at a time,” said Nneka Enwereji, MD/CEO Citibank Nigeria Limited.
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