Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has approved a 50% increase in tariff rates for telecom services. This decision follows a request from operators, who had initially proposed a 100% hike to address mounting operational costs.
The NCC stated that the tariff adjustment, the first since 2013, aims to bridge the gap between increasing operational expenses and revenue while maintaining service quality. The regulator noted that the approval was made with consideration for ongoing industry reforms to ensure long-term sustainability.
The decision comes as Nigeria faces economic challenges, including high inflation driven by currency devaluation and subsidy removal policies implemented by President Bola Tinubu in 2023. Although inflation began to stabilize mid-2024, subsequent petrol price hikes reignited cost pressures, further straining businesses.
The NCC emphasized that the tariff increase reflects the economic realities affecting the telecommunications sector, ensuring that operators can continue delivering reliable services without compromising quality.
Nigeria’s mobile market
Nigeria has the largest mobile market in Africa, with nearly 140 million mobile subscriptions recorded by the end of 2024, according to statistics from the market research firm Omdia. This figure reflects a decline over the past two years due to the deactivation of millions of unregistered SIM cards to comply with regulatory requirements.
In comparison, Egypt had 128.5 million mobile subscriptions in 2024, South Africa had approximately 114 million, Ethiopia had around 88 million, Ghana had about 39 million, and Kenya surpassed 69 million subscriptions by the end of last year. Omdia forecasts that Nigeria will exceed 292 million mobile subscriptions by 2029. The Nigerian mobile market is served by four major operators.
The largest operator is MTN, with an estimated 78.1 million mobile users at the end of 2024. Airtel follows with 52.1 million users, Glo Mobile has nearly 8.6 million, and 9Mobile accounts for just 1.1 million users, according to Omdia’s market intelligence.
