Telecom
Mastercard’s 2025 Economic Projections: A New Chapter for Nigeria
Mastercard Economics Institute released ‘Economic Outlook 2025’, its annual report identifying the themes that will shape next year’s economic landscape. The global economy has managed through a series of shocks admirably over the past few years. The report anticipates 2025 to be defined by shifts in monetary and fiscal policy and a move toward equilibrium rates for growth and inflation.
In Nigeria, the GDP in 2025 is projected to grow by 2.9% year over year, slightly below than the global average which is forecast at 3.2.%, reflecting the challenges and opportunities within one of Africa’s largest economies. Meanwhile, consumer spending in the country is predicted to rise by 6%, despite elevated consumer price inflation of 22.1%, which continues to present challenges for households and businesses.
Economic growth is driven by robust remittance inflows, which sustain household incomes and consumption. Nigeria’s economy demonstrates resilience amid global and regional shifts, leveraging its human capital and remittance ecosystem to navigate challenges.
“Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2025 highlights the country’s resilience and potential for growth, driven by remittance inflows and consumer spending. These trends underscore the importance of fostering financial inclusion and addressing inflationary pressures to support sustainable development,” said Khatija Haque, chief economist, EEMEA, Mastercard.
Folasade Femi-Lawal, Country Manager and Area Business Head for West Africa shared, “Remittances play a pivotal role in driving economic resilience, and Mastercard Nigeria is committed to enhancing contactless payment solutions to simplify transactions, boost security, and reduce costs. Our efforts are aimed at fostering an inclusive financial ecosystem, ensuring seamless, secure payments that support Nigeria’s vibrant economy.”
Key findings from the report include:
Pricing priorities
Consumers worldwide have been navigating a bumpy road of rising prices over the last five years, largely driven by the pandemic and geopolitical tensions. Inflation—the rate of increase in prices—remains a significant challenge for Nigeria, even as consumer price inflation is forecast to moderate to 22.1% in 2025 from over 33% in 2024. This reflects persistent pressures from currency volatility and supply chain disruptions.
Despite these challenges, Nigeria’s consumer spending is projected to grow by 6%, driven by the country’s youthful population and robust informal economy. However, high inflation continues to influence purchasing behavior, with households prioritizing essential goods and services over discretionary spending.
Migration and money
The last few years saw significant movement in people and, by extension, capital. While migration results in a loss of human capital, it also generates substantial remittances, which serve as a lifeline for low- and middle-income communities in developing economies. According to the World Bank, global remittances surged from $128 billion in 2000 to $857 billion in 2023, with an estimated growth of 3% in 2024 and 2025. Economic recovery and local reforms are expected to sustain remittance growth through 2025, while the continued digitization of the payments industry allows recipients to shift to digital and mobile channels, resulting in considerable cost efficiencies, security and convenience. In Nigeria, migration continues to shape the country’s economic landscape, contributing significantly to remittance inflows.
The rise of digital payments and mobile money solutions has further enhanced the efficiency and accessibility of remittances, reducing costs and ensuring secure, timely transactions. These platforms are vital for Nigeria’s financial inclusion efforts, enabling underserved communities to access financial services and participate in the broader economy.
The ‘Economic Outlook 2025’ report draws on a multitude of public and proprietary data sets, including aggregated and anonymized Mastercard sales activity, as well as models that are intended to estimate economic activity.
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN) has dragged Tunji Bello, executive vice chairman, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), before the Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged disobedience of a subsisting court order in a legal dispute involving telecom-based lending services.
Tunji Bello, EVC, FCCPC
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria initiated this in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/760/2026 pending before the court.
According to court documents, Bello was issued a Form 49 Notice to Show Cause, directing him to appear before the court on 22 May 2026 to explain why an order of committal should not be made against him for allegedly failing to comply with interim orders issued by Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa on 15 April 2026.
The court had earlier granted interim injunctions restraining the FCCPC, its officers, agents and privies from enforcing provisions of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025 against members of WASPAN, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The restraining orders specifically barred the commission from interfering with services rendered by WASPAN members, including airtime lending, data advances and other mobile value-added services.
The orders also restrained the FCCPC from imposing sanctions, penalties or directives connected to the disputed regulations.
In the Form 49 notice dated 18 May 2026, WASPAN alleged that despite being aware of the court orders and having been served with Form 48 — the statutory notice warning against disobedience of court orders — the FCCPC and its Executive Vice Chairman allegedly continued actions contrary to the directives of the court.
The notice stated that the alleged contemnor refused to comply with the orders and had continued to deliberately defy the orders of the court.
An affidavit of service filed before the court disclosed that Form 48 was served on Bello at the FCCPC headquarters located at 23 Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja, on 6 May 2026.
The latest development followed earlier proceedings in which Justice Lewis-Allagoa declined an application by the FCCPC seeking to vacate the interim injunction.
The court instead directed that the substantive suit and the commission’s preliminary objection be heard together.
WASPAN is challenging the FCCPC’s authority to regulate telecom-based lending services, arguing that certain provisions of the DEON Regulations encroach on the statutory powers of the Nigerian Communications Commission to regulate telecommunications services in the country.
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria, is the primary self-regulatory body and trade association for licensed Value-Added Service (VAS) providers and aggregators in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector
Lagos State government has raised alarm over the growing misuse of its emergency hotlines, and warned that fake calls are delaying response times and putting lives at risk.
According to the state, fake emergency calls or prank calls, account for a massive majority of distress communications—nearly 70 per cent.
This severe misuse dangerously delays response times for real emergencies like fires, crimes, and medical crises, and wastes critical first-responder resources
Olugbenga Oyerinde, commissioner for Special Duties, called the numbers (nearly seven out of every 10 calls made to Lagos emergency hotlines) deeply troubling.
The scale of the disruption has significantly affected emergency response operations, with the government disclosing that 5.47 million incoming calls went unanswered during the period under review.
The abandoned call rate climbed sharply from 9.3 per cent in January 2025 to 37.6 per cent by April 2026, suggesting worsening pressure on operators handling emergency traffic.
Officials warned that if the current trend continues, more than 7.2 million calls could go unanswered before the end of 2026
The Lagos State Command and Control Centre serves as the central coordination hub for emergency response agencies across the state, including the fire service, ambulance services, traffic management authorities and neighbourhood safety operatives.
According to the report, the sheer volume of fake and misdirected calls has forced the system to devote significant operational resources to filtering non-emergency traffic before genuine distress cases can be handled.
To address the growing burden, the ministry said it plans to introduce artificial intelligence-driven call screening technology designed to detect and filter nuisance calls before they reach human operators.
The proposed system, expected to be introduced before the end of 2026, is projected to reduce operator handling time by 35 per cent.
Other reforms outlined in the ministry’s strategic response plan include expanding agent capacity by 40 per cent, deploying automated callback systems for abandoned calls and establishing a real-time analytics dashboard for emergency response monitoring.
Yet one of the most striking figures in the report was not the 16.39 million nuisance calls, but the fact that only 39 calls were officially categorised as hoax calls requiring legal follow-up during the same period.
Google and Blackstone (BX.N), said they will form an artificial intelligence cloud business venture aimed at capitalising on an insatiable demand for AI computing services.
Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, will invest an initial $5 billion in equity to help bring 500 megawatts of data centre capacity online in 2027, with further expansion planned over time.
The U.S.-based venture will provide data centre capacity along with Google’s custom AI chips, known as Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, through a compute-as-a-service model.
The total investment value could reach $25 billion, including leverage, according to Bloomberg News.
Both companies did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the Bloomberg report. Blackstone has appointed Benjamin Sloss, a long-time Google executive, as CEO of the new venture.
Thomas Kurian, chief executive of Google Cloud, said the venture would help address growing demand for TPUs by offering organisations additional ways to access computing capacity.
Analysts and investors have said Google is taking a sizeable share of new AI-driven computing demand, supported by its business tools and custom chips that have attracted customers such as Anthropic.
“This isn’t the biggest headline number we’ve seen. But it’s a high-quality bet on sustainable growth in AI infrastructure,” said Brittain Ladd, AI and supply chain consultant at Florida-based Chang Robotics.
Blackstone has stepped up investments in AI-related infrastructure, including data centres, power generation and transmission assets.
Those investments are valuable as the AI boom pushes operators to secure long-term energy supply deals.
The new partnership reflects rising demand for AI infrastructure and the need for large-scale capital deployment, Blackstone President Jon Gray said.
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