Business
Nigeria’s Telecom Sector Rebounds As Active Subscriptions Hit 169.3m
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has staged a strong recovery, with active mobile subscriptions soaring to 169.3 million in January 2025, up from 164.9 million in December 2024.
This marks a significant turnaround following a period of decline caused by mass SIM deactivations and sector rebasing, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed in its latest industry report.
According to the NCC, the sector had suffered a sharp decline in September 2024, when subscriptions dropped to 154.9 million due to the deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024.
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However, the steady growth in recent months signals renewed confidence in the industry.
“The growth was driven by two network operators, MTN and Airtel, which recorded an increase in their subscriber base in the month under review,” the NCC stated.
MTN and Airtel Lead Market Growth
MTN Nigeria maintained its dominance, increasing its market share to 51.7% with 87.5 million subscribers in January 2025, up from 84.6 million the previous month.
Airtel followed closely, expanding its subscriber base to 57.6 million and securing a 34.1% market share, up from 56.6 million in December.
Meanwhile, Globacom, which had previously suffered subscriber losses due to a regulatory audit, showed signs of recovery, growing from 20.1 million subscribers in December 2024 to 20.5 million in January 2025.
In contrast, 9mobile continued its downward trajectory. Once a major player in Nigeria’s telecom space, the company’s subscriber base has stagnated at 3.2 million for three consecutive months, a far cry from its peak of 23.4 million subscribers in 2015.
The NCC report also highlighted a sharp rise in mobile number portability activities.
A total of 8,708 subscribers switched networks in January 2025, a significant jump from the 2,998 recorded in December 2024.
9mobile bore the brunt of these migrations, losing 6,716 customers to rival networks in January.
Comparatively, MTN lost 1,188 subscribers, Airtel recorded 399 outgoing porting, while Globacom lost 405.
On the flip side, MTN emerged as the biggest gainer, attracting 5,551 new subscribers from other networks.
Airtel followed with 2,414 incoming porting, while Globacom gained 736. However, 9mobile recorded only seven incoming porting activities, further emphasizing its struggle to retain and attract subscribers.
The NCC also noted that the sector’s teledensity—measuring active phone connections per population—rose to 78.10% in January 2025, up from 76.08% in December 2024.
With the continued expansion of subscriber bases for MTN and Airtel, alongside the gradual recovery of Globacom, Nigeria’s telecom sector appears to be on an upward trajectory.
However, 9mobile’s persistent decline remains a concern, as the company struggles to regain its former market share.
The President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Alh Aliko Dangote, has been appointed to the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab.
Biztellers reports that his see the business mogul joining a select group of global business leaders tasked with driving investment and job creation in emerging economies.
The development was revealed in a statement in which he confirmed his acceptance, where the African industrialist reaffirmed his commitment to fostering sustainable economic growth through private sector-led investment, noting the transformative potential of such initiatives in developing markets.
“I am both honoured and excited to accept my appointment to the World Bank’s Private Sector Investment Lab, dedicated to advancing investment and employment in emerging economies,” Dangote said.
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“This opportunity aligns with my long-standing commitment to sustainable development and unlocking the potential of developing economies. Drawing inspiration from the remarkable successes of the Asian Tigers, which have demonstrated the power of strategic investment and focused economic policy, I am eager to collaborate with fellow leaders to replicate such outcomes across other regions.”
The Dangote Group, founded by Aliko Dangote, is the largest conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest on the African continent. With interests spanning cement, fertiliser, salt, sugar, and oil, the Group employs over 30,000 people and is the largest taxpayer in Nigeria—contributing more in taxes than all of Nigeria’s banks combined. It is also the country’s largest employer after the government.
The $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, the Group’s flagship project, stands as the largest single private investment in Africa.
In addition to his business interests, Dangote leads the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), the largest private foundation in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest endowment by a single African donor. The Foundation primarily focuses on child nutrition, while also supporting interventions in health, education, empowerment, and disaster relief.
The World Bank announced Dangote’s appointment on Wednesday as part of a broader expansion of its Private Sector Investment Lab, which now enters a new phase aimed at scaling up solutions to attract private capital and create jobs in the developing world.
Joining Dangote in the elite group are Bill Anderson, CEO of Bayer AG; Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chair of Bharti Enterprises; and Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
The World Bank said the expanded membership brings together business leaders with proven track records in generating employment in developing economies—supporting the Bank’s sharpened focus on job creation as a central pillar of global development.
“With the expanded membership, we are mainstreaming this work across our operations and tying it directly to the jobs agenda that is driving our strategy,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “This isn’t about altruism—it’s about helping the private sector see a path to investments that will deliver returns, and lift people and economies alike. It’s central to our mandate.”
The global bank said that over the last 18 months, the Lab brought together leaders from global financial institutions to identify the most pressing barriers to private sector investment in developing countries and to test actionable solutions.
The statement said that the work had now been consolidated into five priority focus areas that were being integrated across the bank operations, including regulatory and policy certainty.
The Lab’s founding members included senior executives from AXA, BlackRock, HSBC, Macquarie, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Ninety-One, Ping An Group, Royal Philips, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Sustainable Energy for All, Tata Sons, Temasek, and Three Cairns Group. The Lab is chaired by Shriti Vadera, Chair of Prudential plc.
Nokia has reported a net loss of €68 million for the first quarter of 2025, a sharp decline from the €438 million profit recorded during the same period last year.
The Finnish telecoms equipment maker attributed the downturn to global trade disruptions and recently imposed tariffs by the United States.
The company’s net sales dropped slightly to €4.4 billion, down by one percent year-on-year.
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Tariff-related challenges were highlighted by Nokia’s President and CEO, Justin Hotard, who acknowledged the broader economic pressures affecting the industry.
“We are not immune to the rapidly evolving global trade landscape,” Hotard stated. “However, based on early customer feedback, I believe our markets should prove to be relatively resilient.”
He also noted the potential short-term financial impact, saying, “Based on what we see today, we currently expect a EUR 20 to 30 million impact on our comparable operating profit in the second quarter from the current tariffs.”
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump introduced a 10 percent tariff on global imports, while pausing plans for steeper duties, including a proposed 20 percent levy on products from the European Union.
Despite the quarterly setback, Nokia expressed confidence in its growth prospects.
The company is looking to its Network Infrastructure, Cloud and Network Services, and Mobile Networks divisions to drive sales in the year ahead.
In a sign of continued momentum in the mobile segment, Nokia also announced on Thursday that it had extended its contract with T-Mobile US.
The company said it is continuing “to see positive signs of stabilization” in Mobile Networks.
The pull of market forces which moved the hands of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) to reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to N880 per litre in Lagos and N935 in Abuja appears to be a source of torture to independent markets.
Biztellers reports that the latest price review on Easter Monday saw NNPC retail outlets in Lagos drop from N925 to N880, while those in Abuja adjusted from N950 to N935.
The NNPC Ltd’s price reduction came barely a week after the Dangote Refinery lowered its ex-depot price from N865 to N835 per litre.
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In addition, the $20bn refinery also directed its partners like MRS, Heyden, and Ardova to sell a litre of petrol at the rate of N890 instead of N920 in Lagos, N900 in the South West, N910 in the South-South, and N920 in the North East.
Consumers can smile because with the reaction, the NNPC Ltd’s new price in Lagos is N10 lower than what the Dangote Refinery is selling at, which might lead to another reaction, as the price war between the two companies.
Though some NNPC Ltd’s retail outlets were observed selling at the old rate in Lagos, it was gathered that they were given the liberty to exhaust old stock before adjusting to the new prices.
Market sources are of the view that the current price war was ignited by the Federal Government’s implementation of the Naira-for-crude policy.
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