N18.78tn processed in three months as fibre cuts, network disruptions put pressure on digital transactions.
Nigeria’s growing dependence on electronic payments is coming under increasing pressure from damage to the telecommunications infrastructure that keeps the country’s cashless economy moving, even as the value of transactions processed through Point of Sale terminals surged to N18.78 trillion in the first quarter of 2026.
The latest figures from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System showed that POS transaction value jumped by 79.03 per cent year-on-year, rising from N10.49 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 to N18.78 trillion between January and March 2026.
The first-quarter figure translates to an average of about N208.7 billion in POS transactions processed every day over the 90-day period, highlighting the speed at which electronic payments have become embedded in everyday economic activity.
The growth is particularly significant outside conventional banking halls, where POS terminals operated by agents have become a critical channel for cash withdrawals, deposits, transfers, bill payments and other financial services.
Across markets, transport hubs, neighbourhoods and rural communities, agent banking has increasingly filled gaps left by the limited presence of conventional bank branches.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s revised Agent Banking Guidelines, issued in October 2025, identified the provision of financial services to underbanked and remote communities as a core objective of the agent-banking framework.
The apex bank has also consistently positioned agent banking as an important instrument for advancing financial inclusion, particularly by taking basic financial services closer to people who may have limited access to formal banking infrastructure.
But the rapid expansion of electronic payments has created a parallel vulnerability: the stronger the economy’s dependence on digital transactions, the greater the consequences when the telecommunications networks supporting those transactions fail.
Thousands of Fibre Cuts
The Nigerian Communications Commission reported more than 5,000 incidents of fibre-optic cable cuts nationwide between January and June 2026.
That amounts to roughly 28 incidents every day, underscoring the scale of the physical threat confronting the infrastructure that carries a growing volume of Nigeria’s financial and commercial transactions.
The problem is not solely one of deliberate vandalism.
The NCC has linked a significant proportion of fibre damage to road construction, excavation and other civil engineering activities. This has made better coordination between telecom operators, government agencies, contractors and infrastructure developers increasingly important.
For consumers and businesses, however, the cause of a fibre cut matters little when the immediate consequence is an inability to complete a transaction.
A damaged network link can leave POS terminals unable to connect to payment platforms. Bank transfers may fail or become delayed, while customers who increasingly rely on digital payment options may suddenly have to find cash or another functioning payment channel.
For small businesses, the disruption can be particularly costly.
A trader whose POS terminal cannot process a customer's payment may lose a sale. A transport operator relying on electronic transfers may be unable to receive payment. An agent whose terminal goes offline may be unable to provide essential financial services to customers who have travelled specifically to access them.
Agent Banking Faces Connectivity Test
The vulnerability is even more pronounced in agent banking because the model is designed to extend financial services into communities where conventional banking infrastructure is limited.
The CBN's framework seeks to strengthen access to financial services in remote and underbanked communities. But that objective depends not only on the availability of agents and payment terminals, but also on reliable telecommunications networks.
In effect, Nigeria's financial-inclusion strategy is becoming increasingly tied to the resilience of its communications infrastructure.
As more Nigerians shift from cash to electronic payments, network availability is no longer simply a telecommunications concern. It has become an issue affecting commerce, financial inclusion and economic productivity.
Telecom Operators Increase Investment
Telecommunications companies have continued to invest heavily in expanding network capacity and improving connectivity as demand for digital services rises.
MTN Nigeria invested more than N400 billion in network infrastructure during its 2025 financial year, with the company indicating that investment would be sustained and extended into 2026 as it accelerates the deployment of 5G and expands its fibre-to-the-home and enterprise fibre backbone across additional corridors.
Airtel Africa has similarly continued to expand its Nigerian network, adding more than 1,050 sites and 657 5G sites during its 2026 financial year.
The investments are aimed at expanding capacity and improving coverage at a time when demand for data, digital banking, electronic payments and other technology-enabled services continues to rise.
But operators face a difficult operating environment.
Telecommunications infrastructure remains vulnerable to physical damage, while foreign-exchange pressures have increased the cost of network expansion and maintenance.
A substantial amount of telecom equipment and technology is imported or priced in foreign currency. Consequently, replacing damaged infrastructure or adding new capacity can become significantly more expensive when the naira weakens.
Telecoms' Growing Economic Importance
The increasing importance of telecommunications to the broader economy is reflected in national economic data.
Telecommunications and information services accounted for 9.72 per cent of Nigeria's real Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of 2026, according to the latest national accounts data.
The sector also recorded year-on-year growth of 10.38 per cent during the quarter.
The figures illustrate the extent to which telecommunications has moved beyond being a supporting utility to becoming a central component of economic activity.
Financial transactions, online commerce, business communications, logistics, digital services and other aspects of modern economic life increasingly depend on reliable connectivity.
Consequently, a disruption to telecom infrastructure can have consequences far beyond the immediate loss of phone or internet service.
Calls for Stronger Protection
Industry stakeholders have continued to demand stronger measures to protect critical telecommunications infrastructure.
Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, has repeatedly called for greater protection of telecom infrastructure and stronger consequences for activities that damage fibre networks.
The industry's concerns also extend to construction projects, where inadequate coordination can result in underground cables being damaged during excavation and road works.
Stakeholders argue that preventing such incidents requires closer cooperation between telecom companies, government authorities and contractors before and during major infrastructure projects.
The challenge is becoming more urgent because the infrastructure being damaged is carrying an increasingly large share of Nigeria's economic activity.
From Telecom Problem to Economic Risk
The N18.78 trillion recorded in POS transactions during the first quarter of 2026 is therefore more than a measure of the growing popularity of electronic payment terminals.
It is an indication of how deeply digital transactions have penetrated everyday commerce.
The figure also highlights the potential economic cost of unreliable connectivity.
Every successful electronic transaction depends on a chain of infrastructure working as expected — from the customer's bank and payment platform to the POS terminal and the telecommunications network transmitting the transaction.
When one critical link is disrupted, the transaction can fail.
As Nigeria's cashless economy expands, the consequences of such failures are likely to become more significant. Businesses that once relied almost entirely on cash are increasingly accepting electronic payments, while consumers are becoming more accustomed to paying through transfers, cards, POS terminals and other digital channels.
The shift is particularly important for financial inclusion. Agent banking has brought formal financial services closer to communities that may be far from bank branches, but those gains can be weakened when agents cannot connect to the networks required to process transactions.
Nigeria's digital-economy ambitions therefore increasingly depend on more than expanding payment platforms and deploying additional POS terminals.
They also require resilient telecommunications infrastructure capable of supporting the enormous volume of transactions flowing through the economy each day.
With POS transactions already reaching N18.78 trillion in just three months, protecting the networks behind them is becoming an increasingly important part of Nigeria's financial-inclusion, telecommunications and wider economic agenda.