MTN Nigeria Surpasses 100 Million Subscribers, Sets African Telecom Milestone

Olufemi Adeyemi

Operator adds 2.22 million customers in one month as Nigeria’s active mobile lines rebound.

MTN Nigeria has crossed the 100 million-subscriber threshold for the first time, cementing its position as the country’s dominant telecommunications operator and setting a new milestone in Africa’s telecoms industry.

The company added 2.22 million subscribers in July, increasing its customer base from 98.64 million in June to 100.86 million, according to the latest subscriber data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator.

The milestone makes MTN Nigeria the first telecommunications operator in Africa to surpass 100 million subscribers on a single market, highlighting the scale of its operations in Nigeria and the importance of the country to the wider MTN Group.

MTN’s strong performance also accounted for most of the increase recorded across Nigeria’s telecommunications industry during the month.

According to the NCC data, total active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria rose to 195.11 million in July from 192.23 million in June, representing an increase of about 2.88 million lines in one month.

MTN therefore contributed the bulk of the monthly industry growth, adding more than three-quarters of the 2.88 million new active lines recorded across the market.

MTN strengthens market dominance

The July figures further widened the gap between MTN and its closest competitors.

Airtel Nigeria ranked second with 66.76 million active subscribers, while Globacom had 23.63 million. 9mobile remained the smallest of the four major operators, with 3.61 million subscribers.

Based on the NCC figures, MTN controlled approximately 51.7 per cent of Nigeria’s active mobile subscription market in July.

Airtel accounted for about 34.3 per cent, Globacom had 12.1 per cent, while 9mobile held roughly 1.9 per cent.

The figures underline MTN’s dominant position in a market where mobile connectivity remains central to communication, internet access, digital payments and a growing range of technology-enabled services.

The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola.

Subscriber recovery gathers pace

MTN’s milestone comes as Nigeria’s telecommunications market continues to recover from a major contraction in active subscriptions following the enforcement of the National Identification Number and Subscriber Identification Module, or NIN-SIM, linkage policy.

The policy, introduced in late 2020, required mobile subscribers to link their telephone lines to verified National Identification Numbers as part of efforts to strengthen identity management and improve the security of telecommunications services.

Subsequent enforcement resulted in the disconnection of millions of mobile lines that had not satisfied the identity-verification requirements.

The impact was reflected in Nigeria’s active subscriber figures, which fell significantly from the levels recorded before the enforcement exercise.

Nigeria had about 207.6 million active mobile subscriptions in October 2020, while the figure later climbed to a reported 214.35 million in October 2022.

Although the latest July figure of 195.11 million represents a substantial recovery from some of the lows recorded during the NIN-SIM exercise, it remains below the more than 200 million active subscriptions previously recorded in the country.

The latest increase suggests that operators are gradually rebuilding their subscriber bases as customers complete identity verification requirements and previously inactive or disconnected lines return to the network.

A critical market for MTN

Nigeria has remained one of MTN Group’s most important markets since the telecommunications company entered the country at the beginning of the GSM era.

MTN Nigeria was incorporated in 2000 and commenced operations in 2001 after MTN secured one of Nigeria’s GSM licences.

Its parent company, MTN Group, was founded in South Africa in 1994 and has since grown into one of Africa’s largest telecommunications groups, with operations extending across Africa and the Middle East.

MTN Group is headquartered in South Africa and currently operates in 19 countries.

The Nigerian market, with its large population and expanding demand for mobile connectivity, data services and digital products, remains a major contributor to the group’s overall operations.

Beyond voice calls

The growth in subscriber numbers is significant not only for traditional voice and messaging services but also for Nigeria’s broader digital economy.

Mobile networks provide the primary connectivity channel for millions of Nigerians, supporting internet access, digital financial services, mobile banking, online commerce, entertainment and other technology-driven activities.

The continued recovery in active subscriptions could therefore have implications beyond the telecommunications sector, particularly as more Nigerians rely on mobile networks for access to digital services.

MTN’s crossing of the 100 million mark also illustrates the enormous scale of Nigeria’s telecoms market and the growing concentration of subscribers among the country’s largest operators.

With total active subscriptions now back above 195 million, the industry remains within reach of recovering the 200 million-plus subscriber levels recorded before the full impact of the NIN-SIM enforcement exercise.

For MTN Nigeria, however, the immediate achievement is more symbolic: after more than two decades of operations in the country, its subscriber base has crossed a threshold few telecom operators on the continent have reached.