MTN Nigeria has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 6.4 per cent even as it estimates that powering its nationwide network with diesel costs more than N60 billion every year.

In its newly released 2025 Sustainability Report, the telecom operator said its operational emissions fell by 6.4%, driven by investments in cleaner and more efficient energy solutions.

The company’s climate efforts are anchored on Project Zero, MTN’s long-term strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

In 2025, the telco invested N10.1 billion in the initiative and recorded savings of about N8.5 billion.

The programme built on work done in 2024, when MTN replaced 86 outdated cooling systems with more energy-efficient units across data centres, switch centres, and telecom sites.

In 2025, the company expanded its strategy further by replacing diesel-powered systems with gas-powered electricity and inverter solutions, while also increasing its solar-powered rural telephony sites from 194 to 229 to improve connectivity in underserved communities.

The progress, however, has occurred within stark realities.

Diesel made up of 58.11% of the telco’s total energy consumption in 2025, far exceeding gas-powered independent power producers at 23.63% and electricity from the national grid at 18.04%, with renewable energy contributing just 0.05%.

This is not merely an environmental challenge but a financial one. MTN estimates that powering its nationwide network with diesel costs more than N60 billion every year.

Nigeria’s power sector is marked by persistent grid instability, with 12 national grid collapses reported in 2024 alone, conditions that continue to force telecom operators to lean heavily on generators to sustain network operations.

Notably, MTN Nigeria was one of only four Nigerian companies (alongside Seplat Energy, Access Bank, and Fidelity Bank) that published inaugural financial reports using IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability reporting standards as early adopters, well ahead of the mandatory compliance deadline.

More than one-third of MTN Nigeria’s major suppliers have also aligned with the company’s long-term environmental goals, focused on reducing emissions across its supply chain and operations.

Dr. Karl Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria, described the 2025 report as “an important milestone in our commitment to IFRS S1 and S2-aligned disclosure and accountability,” adding that sustainability remains central to the company’s long-term value-creation strategy.

In presenting the 2024 report, Toriola had similarly anchored the company’s ambition to the dual imperatives of building business resilience and unlocking long-term value a consistency of message that suggests the techo’s climate commitments are not a seasonal gesture but a structural shift, even if the road to net zero remains long and diesel-drenched.

In September 2025, Nigeria strengthened its climate goals, committing to reduce emissions by 32% by 2030 while promoting greener jobs, innovation, and a fair transition to a low-carbon economy.

Before then, MTN Nigeria was working to expand its own climate efforts.

In its 2024 Sustainability Report, the company disclosed an 11% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2021 levels.

Nigeria’s push to deepen broadband penetration and digital inclusion received a boost in 2025, as MTN Nigeria expanded network coverage to 93.7 per cent of the population.

MTN Nigeria

According to the company’s just-released 2025 Sustainability Report, the company invested N2.7 billion in social-impact initiatives that reached more than 534,000 people.

The company says the improved coverage, up from 93% in 2024, was driven by the continued rollout of base stations across rural and underserved communities.

This included the deployment of 229 integrated renewable, solar-powered rural telephony sites under its Project Zero initiative. Broadband penetration across MTN’s network footprint reached 90.1%, while 4G population coverage remained stable at about 82%.

And there’s more. The Nigerian Communications Commission says MTN Nigeria accounted for more than half of the country’s active GSM connections in 2025, serving approximately 89.64 million active mobile lines.

The CSR footprint of the company also expanded last year. MTN Foundation’s increased recipients rose to more than 534,000.

The programmes in 2025 spanned community infrastructure, maternal healthcare, youth empowerment and digital access. Under its STEM scholarship scheme, 300 students studying science and technology disciplines in public tertiary institutions received scholarships worth N300,000 annually through graduation.

The company also continued its Scholarship for Blind Students and Top-10 UTME Scholarship initiatives, while distributing more than 25,000 learning devices in partnership with state governments.

Another focus for the year was child online safety as MTN Nigeria’s ‘Help Children Be Children’ in response to growing concerns around online grooming and exposure to harmful digital content.

The initiative includes school sensitisation programmes, parental workshops and collaborations with civil society organisations.

On the flip side, the company disclosed that it spent more than NGN1 billion on infrastructure repairs and security interventions following 9,218 fibre cuts recorded nationwide during the year, incidents linked largely to vandalism and theft of telecoms assets.

Telecommunications subscribers across Nigeria have regained access to emergency airtime lending services as major operators, Airtel Nigeria and Globacom, restored the platforms following the suspension of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending (DEON) Regulations 2025 by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

USSD

The restoration followed a Federal High Court order restraining the commission from enforcing the regulations pending the determination of a suit challenging its authority over telecom-based airtime lending services.

Confirming the development on Monday, Chairman of the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN), Ayo Stuffman, said the services had resumed on both networks.

“As we speak, the services in question are already active on Airtel and Glo,” he said.

The return of the services is expected to provide relief to millions of subscribers who rely on emergency airtime advances for communication and small-scale business activities.

Industry estimates place the annual airtime lending market at more than N400 billion.

The FCCPC had earlier introduced the DEON Regulations 2025 to regulate airtime lending platforms, arguing that the services fall within the scope of digital consumer credit.

The commission said the move was aimed at protecting users against alleged abuses, including unfair lending practices and data privacy violations.

According to the FCCPC, it had received over 11,000 consumer complaints relating to digital lending operations.

However, stakeholders in the telecommunications sector opposed the regulations, maintaining that airtime advances are telecom value-added services and not conventional consumer loans.

The dispute intensified after Justice A. Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos issued an order stopping the enforcement of the framework.

Reports also indicated that contempt proceedings were initiated against the Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Tunji Bello.

In a statement issued on Friday, FCCPC Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, said the commission suspended implementation of the regulations in obedience to the court order.

“As a law-abiding institution, the commission, in deference and in obedience to the rule of law, hereby suspends the implementation and enforcement of the DEON Regulations 2025,” the statement said.

Despite the suspension, the commission indicated plans to challenge the ruling, stating that its legal team had been directed to contest both the court order and the competence of the suit.

Industry stakeholders said the development had restored temporary stability within the telecom sector but warned that uncertainty surrounding the regulatory framework could affect investor confidence and long-term sector growth.

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, had earlier called for clearer regulatory boundaries and greater policy predictability within the industry.

Observers say the outcome of the court case will shape the future regulation of Nigeria’s growing digital credit and airtime lending ecosystem.