Telecom
Stakeholders Chart Strategic Path for MVNOs in Nigeria
A decisive call for collaboration, strategic market positioning, and patient capital has been issued by key players in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector to unlock the dormant potential of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs).
The resolution emerged from the sixth edition of the Telecoms Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF) organised by Business Remarks at Ikeja, Lagos State, where stakeholders convened under the theme: Unlocking Nigeria’s MVNO Potential: Status, Trends, Investment, and Future Prospects.
The forum, which brought together major mobile network operators (MNOs), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and licensed MVNOs, served as a candid platform to diagnose the critical challenges stifling the growth of the MVNO sub-sector. The forum stressed that the sustainability of MVNOs in Nigeria is a collective responsibility. It called for unwavering collaboration between MNOs, the NCC, and the MVNOs to replicate the success stories seen in other nations, ultimately fostering a more diverse, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications market for all Nigerians.
In his keynote address, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida said the entrance of MVNOs is expected to provide competitive niche offerings as well as enhance digital communications ecosystem in Nigeria for the benefit of the subscribers and the Nigerian economy.
Ably represented by the Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Mr Usman Mamman, NCC noted that there are now over 1000 MVNOs globally, with more than 500 operating in Europe alone and 46 MVNO Licenses were issued in Nigeria by the regulator in the year 2023.
Addressing stakeholders, Maida stated that the Commission is not oblivion to the challenges faced by MVNOs in Nigeria, particularly in relation to commercial negotiations. He therefore pledged that NCC is working assiduously with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to improve network capacity.
Furthermore, NCC’s EVC encouraged MNOs to partner with MVNOs to target new verticals, drive margin growth as well as to monetize spare capacity, while urging MVNOs players to recognise the viability of the Nigerian market, invest boldly, and position themselves to reap the long-term benefits of their investments.
In his speech, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, dissuaded MVNO Licensees from blindly adopting foreign MVNOs model for Nigerian local market and consumers. He urged players to conduct diligent market analysis and focus on service differentiation through specialized offerings. “MVNOs need to carve a unique niche specially designed for the Nigerian market,” Emoekpere said.
Speaking on this, the co-founder and executive director, Infratel Africa, Dr Tola Yusuf, stressed that MVNOs in Nigeria’s market must adopt a more strategic approach to succeed in rural and underserved areas. Categorically noting that there are immense potential in connecting these rural communities, Yusuf argued that MVNOs often focus on urban, high-density areas like Lagos, neglecting the vast majority of the population, estimated at over 25 million people who remain completely unconnected.
“The true winners in the MVNO space will be those who develop a clear strategy to serve these markets, even if it requires significant logistical effort, such as using horses or boats to reach remote communities,” he said. He also suggested that the current market might see future mergers and acquisitions, with some license holders potentially selling their licenses as they fail to compete effectively.
Citing examples of banks with MVNOs licenses in other climes, NCC’s Director of Licensing and Authorisation, Mr Usman Mamman during the panel session draws attention to how financial institutions have successfully entered the telecom space by understanding its customers’ needs and tailoring holistic lifestyle services accordingly.
While addressing the need to focus on providing niche services to specific customer groups, Mamman noted that unlike large mobile network operators, MVNOs are expected to be digital-first and flexible, which enables them to be innovative and quickly capitalize on underserved market segments.
On his part, the Director USK Mobile, Dr Chidi Ajuzie, called attention to the capacity constraints by the host MNOs and the revenue- sharing model that can limit profitability. Ajuzie
According to him, “Tier 5 MVNOs are expected to build their own core infrastructure and billing systems (BSS/OSS), but they still rely on the MNO’s radio access network. This creates a bottleneck. Even if a Tier 5 MVNO has excellent billing systems, it can’t offer unlimited data or guaranteed high speeds if the MNO’s network is already at capacity,” he stated.
Ajuzie, however, said some higher-tier are now looking for innovative ways to go beyond the constraint by securing acquiring additional licenses, such as Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Public Licence (PL) licenses.
He also emphasized the
need for a significant expansion of the existing infrastructure, particularly by MVNOs who are now integrating their own fixed infrastructure, such as fiber networks. This expansion, he says, is the only way to “expand the pipe” and create a truly competitive and viable market for all players.
Also speaking ipNX Director of Startegic Business Initiative, Mr Olusola Teniola argued that the nation’s 40,000 telecom towers are grossly insufficient for a population of over 200 million, especially when compared to the United Kingdom’s 75,000 towers for a much smaller population. He stated that unlike developed nations where public funds initially built a robust telecom backbone, Nigeria’s infrastructure was financed by a few dominant mobile network operators (MNOs) who have invested billions.
Teniola posited that the lack of widespread infrastructure, particularly outside major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, presents a major challenge for new MVNOs, which were intended to serve the millions of unconnected Nigerians, particularly in rural areas. He also warned that without substantial new investment to expand the network, the MVNO business model will struggle to succeed, with only those that can survive a long-term, 7-to-10-year investment cycle likely to see a return on their capital.
In her welcome address, the Convener who also doubles as the Managing Editor of Business Remarks, Bukola Olanrewaju, said the Nigerian telecom market is growing at an incredible pace and the level of success recorded in each country with MVNOs is largely dependent on the regulatory enforcement and interventions, wholesale agreement, spectrum access, and on how effectively MVNOs players can navigate these hurdles.
“To succeed, Nigeria must collectively build an ecosystem that is both competitive and sustainable,” Olanrewaju remarked as she brought into focus MVNOs operations in South Africa, Thailand and Argentina.
The forum, TSSF 6.0, stressed that the sustainability of MVNOs in Nigeria is a collective responsibility. It called for unwavering collaboration between MNOs, the NCC, and the MVNOs themselves to replicate the success stories seen in other nations, ultimately fostering a more diverse, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications market for all Nigerians.
Airtel Africa’s profit after tax grew to $586 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2025, up from $248 million in the corresponding period of 2024.
According to the company’s nine-month financial results released on Friday, the higher profit after tax in the current period was driven by higher operating profit and derivative and foreign exchange gains of $99 million, as compared to $153 million in derivative and foreign exchange losses in the prior period.
It disclosed that the group’s revenues in reported currency increased by 28.3 percent to $4,667 million, with constant currency growth of 24.6 percent. Reported currency revenue growth at a premium to constant currency growth reflects currency appreciation in key markets. In Q3’26, constant currency revenue growth improved to 24.7 percent from 24.2 percent in the previous quarter (Q2’26).
“Constant currency revenue growth was supported by tariff adjustments driving a 50.6 percent growth in Nigeria and a strong performance in Francophone Africa, which saw revenues accelerate to 17.0 percent in the nine months.”
In Nigeria, revenue grew by 50.4 percent in constant currency, largely driven by continued strength in the demand for data services, further supported by the tariff adjustments. The constant currency revenue growth was driven by ARPU growth of 39.6 percent and customer base growth of 7.8 percent.
“In reported currency, revenue grew by 52.1 percent to $1,123 million, with Q3’26 revenue growth accelerating to 70.9 percent compared to constant currency growth of 52.9 percent.
“Significantly higher reported currency growth during the quarter compared to constant currency growth was due to the appreciation in Nigerian naira from a weighted average NGN/USD rate of 1,627 in Q3’25 to NGN/USD 1,456 in the current quarter,” it disclosed.
Insights from Airtel’s financials revealed that voice revenue in Nigeria grew by 35.8 percent in constant currency, driven by voice ARPU growth of 26.0 percent, reflecting the tariff adjustments earlier in the year.
Data revenue also grew by 65.4 percent in constant currency as a function of both data customer and data ARPU growth of 8.0 percent and 49.7 percent, respectively. Data usage per customer increased by 26.2 percent to 10.7 GB per month (from 8.4 GB in the prior period), with smartphone penetration increasing 4.6 percent to reach 54.1 percent. Smartphone data usage per customer reached 13.4 GB per month compared to 11.2 GB per month in the prior period.
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said these results highlight the strength of our strategy, with strong operating and financial trends across the business.
He added that “During the quarter, we accelerated investment to enhance coverage and data capacity while also expanding our fibre network. Coupling this investment with innovative partnerships strengthens our customer proposition and positions us to capture the considerable growth opportunity across our markets.
Digitisation, technology innovation, and embedding AI in our processes will also optimise the customer experience with increased digital offerings and closer integration of GSM and Airtel Money services, allowing us to unlock the strong demand across our markets.
Smartphone adoption continues to increase with a penetration of 48.1 percent, and we are seeing solid progress in the development of our home broadband business, reflecting the need for reliable, high-speed connectivity across our markets.
“Our push to enhance financial inclusion across the continent continues to gain momentum with our Mobile Money customer base expanding to 52 million, surpassing the 50 million milestone.
Annualised total processed value of over $210 billion in Q3’26 underscores the depth of our merchants, agents, and partner ecosystem and remains a key player in driving improved access to financial services across Africa. We remain on track for the listing of Airtel Money in the first half of 2026.
“Disciplined execution on cost efficiency, alongside accelerating revenue growth, has enabled another sequential improvement in our quarterly EBITDA margin to 49.6 percent, underpinning constant currency EBITDA growth of 31 percent, and we remain focused on driving further incremental margin improvements.
“Our strategic priorities remain clear: to continue investing in best-in-class connectivity, accelerate financial inclusion through our mobile money platform, and deliver an exceptional customer experience. These results reinforce our confidence in the long-term potential of our markets and our ability to create value for all our stakeholders,” he added.
David Adeoye Abodunrin, Africa’s foremost AI transformations coach and internationally recognised futurist, has declared that the continent’s immense potential can only be unlocked when purpose is aligned with strategic intelligence.
David Adeoye Abodunrin
Speaking to ICT editors in Lagos, Abodunrin—renowned for nearly three decades of multidisciplinary expertise spanning artificial intelligence disruption, digital governance, behavioural intelligence, cybersecurity, and human capital transformation—said Africa must embrace AI as a transformational frontier rather than a mere tool.
“AI is not merely a tool, it is a transformational frontier that can unlock prosperity, resilience and leadership for Africans in the global digital era,” Abodunrin stated.
Abodunrin, widely sought after by C-suite executives, policymakers, founders and institutional boards, is recognised internationally as a foresight architect and strategic transformation coach. His mission, he explained, is to help individuals, governments and organisations engineer strategic advantage through anticipatory intelligence and ethically aligned innovation.
His work focuses on decoding emergent AI and intelligence systems that reshape markets, redefine competitive advantage, and enable sovereign digital ecosystems.
He is also a 14-time international bestselling author whose frameworks integrate behavioural psychology, foresight strategy and digital sovereignty to prepare leaders for future complexities. Through his organisations, including Cubed Integrated Consulting and Cyberfore Consulting, Abodunrin equips governments, boards, and enterprises with tools to build secure, future-ready institutions that thrive amid volatility.
He stressed that Africa’s transformation must be rooted in local contexts and values, not imported wholesale from global models.
“In Africa, transformation must not just follow global models, it must reflect our cultures, our challenges and our collective aspirations,” he emphasised. “This continent holds immense potential; we simply need to align purpose with strategic intelligence to unlock it.”
His coaching and advisory services emphasise strategic AI governance tailored for African economies, executive and leadership transformation for sustained institutional resilience, digital and cyber intelligence frameworks to protect sovereign infrastructure, and behavioural intelligence and insights for inclusive growth and innovation.
Despite his international recognition, Abodunrin insists that his philosophy centres on African solutions for African realities—developing local talent, embedding ethical AI adoption, and fostering foresight strategies that account for Africa’s unique socio-economic ecosystems.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability, and consumer protection with the release of its Q4 2025 Network Performance Report.
NCC
Speaking at a media engagement in Abuja, the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Abraham Oshadami, said the Commission’s proactive disclosure of industry data is designed to strengthen public trust and ensure service providers remain accountable to consumers.
“Transparency for us has become a guiding principle that underpins our regulatory approach. Open access to information strengthens the industry, builds public trust, and reinforces accountability among operators,” Oshadami stated.
He recalled that in 2025, the NCC partnered with Ookla to develop nationwide Network Coverage Maps, giving consumers objective tools to compare network quality across locations and operators. The Commission also began publishing quarterly performance reports, with the Q3 2025 edition released in October.
Oshadami noted that the Q4 2025 report shows measurable improvements in network performance and in the quality of experience delivered to consumers. He urged the media to critically engage with the data and help amplify stories of progress, accountability, and reform.
In her remarks, the Head of Public Affairs Department, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, described the media as indispensable partners in shaping public understanding of the telecommunications sector.
“Your reporting shapes the national narrative around telecommunications. It affects investor confidence, consumer trust, and policy direction. It influences how Nigerians understand the technologies that power their daily lives,” she said.
Ukoha stressed that the Commission’s quarterly reports provide rich material for news coverage, investigative reporting, and sector monitoring. She encouraged journalists to adopt constructive framing in their reporting—highlighting progress alongside challenges, and reflecting the investments and innovations driving industry resilience.
The engagement session, held at the Commission’s headquarters, provided journalists with access to the Q4 2025 data and contextual insights to aid accurate reporting. Both officials reiterated that the NCC’s goal is to ensure that reforms, accountability measures, and improvements in service delivery are widely understood and properly communicated to the Nigerian public.
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