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Financial health and Quality of Service by Network Operators

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1 year ago

May 21, 2025

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By Sonny Aragba-Akpore

In March 2024 Mobile Network Operators (MNOS) lamented losses of revenue when services were negatively impacted as they suffered internet outage due to damage to some fibre optic cables.

Earlier in 2023 alone, MTN Nigeria suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable. The operator relocated 2,500 kilometres of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023 at a cost of more than N11bn —enough to build 870 kilometres of new fiber links in areas without coverage.

In August 2024 ,Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Carl Cruz, while speaking during an industry forum, said the telecom company had been recording an average of 1,000 cases of fibre cuts every month.All of these cost money and avoidable losses of revenue.

Both operators which are believed to be dominant service providers suffered a series of setbacks so much that even some of their Mobile Switching Centres (MSCs) and Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) were also affected thus creating negative impact on Quality of Service (QoS).

While they swallowed the bitter pills of trying to resolve the infrastructure issue,some of them have not been able to meet the QoS threshold effectively,as expected by industry regulators,the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

> Globacom Limited and 9mobile ,though not publicly quoted ,have no figures available in the public space on their financial losses but both too have suffered losses in that regard.

Each of the four MNOs has suffered incalculable losses so much that these have affected QoS and while subscribers groan over the poor quality of service and depleting data in the face of unavailable network and where available in poor coverage especially in some areas of the country, the operators appear helpless.

Vandalism by miscreants is another cross many operators bear.

There are also frequent instances of official high handedness by certain categories of government officials who are empowered by cruel legislations to go after operators for payments on Right of Way (RoW) fees and illegal taxes not known to any law.And the operators have had to contend with these too.

And so the operators are trapped inescapably between the vandals and government officials.The subscribers suffer in all of these.

In all of these,the subscribers swallow the bitter pills as they are made puns in the vicious cycle of the gods-vandals,none state actors and regimented state and local government officials riding on crooked legislation to fleece the operators.

Apart from frequent harassments operators encounter in the hands of vandals and alleged unscrupulous government officials at state and local council areas across the country,there have been reported cases of revenue losses sustained by the operators through the burden of high operational expenditure.

Some of them have even lost millions of subscribers in the last 20 months so much that these have led to dwindling revenues.

For instance in the first eight months of 2024, Globacom Nigeria experienced a significant loss of 42 million active subscribers, representing a 73% reduction thus losing its market share by moving from number two to three on the subscriber chart.

While the telecommunication sector in Nigeria has shown resilience, Globacom’s subscriber decline is worrisome.
By pioneering per-second billing—unlike the ₦50-per-minute norm—it immediately disrupted the market, forcing rivals to return to the drawing board to rejig their billing templates.

“If per-second billing was a game-changer for the industry, Globacom pulled off another stunt in October 2004 by offering free Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards—at a time competitors were selling theirs for ₦2,000 per SIM card.
“This too rocked the market with aggressive price war and inspite of its late market entry status ,Globacom backed it with hefty marketing campaigns, signing Nigeria’s biggest celebrities as ambassadors” according to an analyst.

MTN Nigeria reported a N400 billion post-tax loss in 2024, marking a significant financial setback. “
But the company bounced back last week when it announced a profit after tax of N133.7 billion for first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2025, from a loss of N392.7 billion declared in the first quarter of 2024. MTN announced a total revenue of N1.06 trillion, representing an increase of 40.5 per cent from N752.96 billion in Q1 2024.
The telecommunication giant listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) said it invested N202.4 billion in Q1 2025, a 159 per cent increase year-on-year, to upgrade and expand network infrastructure, enhancing service quality and capacity.

Airtel Africa reported a loss after tax of $89 million for the full year ended March 2024. This loss was primarily attributed to foreign exchange (FX) headwinds in Nigeria and Malawi. Airtel Nigeria’s revenue also fell by 40.34% to $738 million in 2024, mainly due to the devaluation of the Nigerian naira.

Despite the revenue decline, data usage per customer in Nigeria increased by 37.2% accounting for 8.4 Gigabyte (GB)per month.

Airtel has a subscriber base of 56.6 million, as the second largest operator by numbers.

To mitigate further foreign exchange induced losses, MTN and Airtel cut FX liabilities.

MTN Nigeria slashed its outstanding letters of credit (LC) dollar obligations from $416.6 million as of 31 December 2023 to $20.8 million by the end of 2024.

Airtel Africa, on its part, repaid $739 million in foreign currency debt over the last year, reducing its foreign currency debt exposure.

Both companies believe that reducing their foreign currency obligations is key to strengthening their financial positions.

With over 10 million of its subscribers lost to other networks out of its 13m subscribers base,and a desperate quest for $3billion loan to stay afloat,9mobile is clearly in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the telecommunications sector.

Its pathetic situation is almost beyond redemption after it managed to scale through its initial hiccups as a result of over a billion dollar debt Overhang to a consortium of Nigerian banks.

It survived through the interventions by the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which offered a reprieve for new owners to take over.

It rebranded from Etisalat to 9mobile with a lot of promises which later turned out to be
mere pipe dreams as the company is now comatose.
Its now on the bottom of chart.

Its new management led by Obafemi Banigbe is shopping for over $3 billion in investment to rejig its services in the face of internal wrangling of shareholders.

“9mobile is also facing issues from competitors, especially Globacom, as regards its spectrum lease agreement with MTN.”

A telecom analyst explained last week that “the spectrum lease agreement,was framed in the form of infrastructure sharing, where 9mobile could make use of MTN’s wave bands, where it has no coverage , and MTN can also do the same.”

But in order to cushion the serial losses sustained by operators,the government approved a tariff hike in March 2025 by about 35% down from the 100% the operators proposed initially.

Industry regulators the NCC,
in January this year, approved the request by telecoms operators for tariff adjustments in the telecoms industry.
It announced a 50 per cent increase in telecoms tariff.

But the Nigerian Labour Congress ( NLC) resisted this and took its protests to the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) which called a tripartite meeting of his office ,labour and operators after which the tariff was pegged at 35%.

“Telecom operators had requested for 100 per cent hike in telecoms tariff for industry sustainability, which was rejected by different groups of telecoms subscribers, who felt that any increase would impose further hardship on the subscribers.”

The NCC riding on its power under Section 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA) to regulate and approve tariff rates and charges by telecommunications operators, approved tariff adjustment requests by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in response to prevailing market conditions.

The adjustment, capped at a maximum of 50 per cent of current tariffs, though lower than the over 100 per cent requested by network operators, was arrived at, taking into account ongoing industry reforms that will positively influence sustainability.

“These adjustments will remain within the tariff bands stipulated in the 2013 NCC Cost Study, and requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis as is the commission’s standard practice for tariff reviews. It will be implemented in strict adherence to the recently issued NCC Guidance on Tariff Simplification, 2024”the NCC said.

But will the adjustment make any difference to the myriad of problems in the industry especially with declining purchasing powers and general apathy of subscribers?
>> Will the NCC re-examine the financial health of the operators in a wobbling economic environment?

There are far more questions than available answers.
>> Time alone will tell.

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NIDEC 2026: Nigeria Will Attract Investment, Create Jobs, Boost Forex Inflows – Enikanolaiye

Published

4 hours ago

August 11, 2026

Gloria Ikibah

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By Gloria Ikibah

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has said the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference (NIDEC) 2026 in Toronto, Canada, is not another diplomatic jamboree but a strategic platform to attract investment, create jobs and increase foreign exchange inflows into Nigeria.

Enikanolaiye stated this on Monday while speaking with journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly before departing for Canada as part of the Federal Government delegation to the four-day conference.

The minister was responding to concerns that similar international engagements in the past had produced limited tangible results and amounted to little more than jamborees.

He said the Tinubu administration’s foreign policy approach, anchored on Demography, Development, Democracy and Diaspora, was focused on measurable economic outcomes.

“This administration does not travel for jamborees. We travel for results. Mr. President has mandated a high-powered delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, because NIDEC 2026 is a deal room for Nigeria’s growth,” the minister said.

According to Enikanolaiye, the presence of senior Canadian officials, including the President of the Treasury Board, Hon. Shafqat Ali, and ministers from Ontario, will provide an opportunity to strengthen Nigeria-Canada economic relations.

He said discussions will focus on new trade agreements, partnerships involving small and medium-sized enterprises and improved market access for Nigerian products in North America.

The minister also said the composition of the Nigerian delegation was deliberately designed to attract investment and generate economic opportunities at both federal and state levels.

He said the participation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Nigerian Export Promotion Council and Nigeria Revenue Service would enable Nigeria to present opportunities and incentives for diaspora investment, export expansion and remittance-backed investment vehicles.

Enikanolaiye said the initiative is expected to contribute to increased foreign exchange inflows while supporting job creation in Nigeria.

He also highlighted the participation of five state governors from Anambra, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and Zamfara, saying their presence would help decentralise investment opportunities beyond Abuja.

According to him, the governors would directly engage potential investors on projects in infrastructure, agriculture, technology and mining within their respective states.
The minister said the conference would also support technology and skills transfer, with the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, part of the delegation.

He said Nigeria will use the platform to explore partnerships in digital innovation, fintech and information technology capacity building as part of efforts to accelerate the country’s digital economy.

On diaspora engagement, Enikanolaiye said NIDEC 2026 was designed to connect investment-ready Nigerian projects with Nigerians in the diaspora and other high-net-worth investors.
He said the conference will also provide an opportunity for the government to strengthen its relationship with Nigerians abroad and address some of the challenges they face when seeking to invest in the country.

The minister noted that Nigeria received more than $20 billion in diaspora remittances last year, stressing the need to convert a significant portion of the funds into productive investments.

“NIDEC 2026 is designed to convert that goodwill into equity, into factories, and into businesses that employ Nigerians,” he said.

Enikanolaiye described the conference as a practical expression of Nigeria’s economic diplomacy and assured prospective investors that the country was ready for business.

“NIDEC 2026 is economic diplomacy in action. Nigeria is open for business. And we are going to Toronto to close deals,” he stated.

The four-day NIDEC 2026, themed “INVEST NIGERIA, THRIVE ABROAD”, will take place from August 12 to 15, 2026, in Toronto, Canada.

The conference is organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa and the Canadian High Commission in Abuja.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conference would serve as a platform for connecting global capital with bankable investment opportunities in Nigeria.

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Davido writes Trump to intervene in Osun guber poll

Published

4 hours ago

August 11, 2026

Austin Ojomah

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Popular singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has called on United States President Donald Trump to pay attention to the situation in Osun State ahead of the upcoming governorship election, citing concerns over tension and possible violence.

In a post on X on Tuesday addressed to Trump, Davido drew the US president’s attention to developments in Osun State as the state prepares for the election.

The singer expressed concerns over growing tension and the possibility of violence, intimidation or disruption of the democratic process, stressing that residents of Osun State deserve to exercise their constitutional right to vote freely, peacefully and without fear.

Davido appealed to the United States and the international community to pay close attention to the election and urged relevant authorities to ensure that every voter is protected and every vote is respected.

He stressed the need to prevent bloodshed and intimidation, while calling for peace, transparency and a free and fair election.

He wrote, “A CALL FOR ATTENTION TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

“President Donald Trump, I am calling your attention to the situation in Osun State, Nigeria, as we approach the election.

“There are growing concerns about tension and the possibility of violence, intimidation, or disruption of the democratic process. Osun people deserve to exercise their constitutional right to vote freely, peacefully, and without fear.

“I appeal to the United States and the international community to pay close attention to the election and encourage all relevant authorities to ensure that every voter is protected and every vote is respected.

“We do not want bloodshed. We do not want intimidation.

We want peace, transparency, and a free and fair election. @realDonaldTrump”

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See details of suspected kidnappers behind Enugu Catholic invasion

Published

6 hours ago

August 11, 2026

Austin Ojomah

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The details of three suspected members of the kidnapping gang accused of abducting worshippers during an attack on St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Inoyi-Affa, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, have been revealed following their arrest by security operatives.

The suspects were identified as Aliyu Mohammed, Usman Mohammed and Babuga Usman.

Meanwhile, SaharaReporters gathered that Babuga Usman was killed during an alleged gun battle.

The three men were arrested during a joint security operation involving operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Army and other security agencies following the August 2, 2026 attack on the Catholic church.

The operation also led to the recovery of four AK-47 rifles, seven magazines, 133 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, $1,000 and ₦785,900 allegedly belonging to the criminal syndicate.

Recall that on Monday that troops of the Nigerian Army and DSS operatives under Operation UDO KA had arrested a suspected commander of a notorious kidnapping syndicate in Enugu State and recovered a cache of arms, ammunition and cash.

Although, the military authority didn’t reveal the identity of the suspects in the statement, the arrest followed the abduction of worshippers in Udi Local Government Area on August 2.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Lieutenant Colonel Olabisi Olalekan Ayeni, said an earlier operation had resulted in the neutralisation of one member of the syndicate and the arrest of another suspect.

According to Ayeni, information obtained from the arrested suspect enabled security operatives to track the fleeing commander.

“Acting on the intelligence, troops intensified their manhunt and eventually tracked, intercepted, and arrested the syndicate commander as he attempted to flee Enugu State,” he said.

The arrested suspect subsequently led troops to the gang’s hidden armoury inside Umuchingu Ujenike Forest in Udi.

“During the follow-up operation, troops recovered four AK-47 rifles, seven AK-47 magazines, and 133 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition from the forest hideout,” the Army said.

The military said preliminary investigations indicated that the arrested kingpin was linked to several high-profile kidnapping operations across the South-East and North-Central regions.

The development also comes after the remaining victims of the August 2 attack, including seminarian Lawrence Igbo and Emmanuel Onwudi, were rescued by security agencies.

The Enugu State government said all the kidnapped victims were recovered alive and without injuries.

Governor Peter Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, had disclosed this while parading the arrested suspects at the DSS office in Enugu on Monday night.

Onyia said the victims had identified the arrested suspects as the men responsible for their abduction, but didn’t disclosed their identities.

He also disclosed that ransom was paid during the rescue operation but insisted that the money was used as bait as part of a broader strategy to track the kidnappers.

The kidnapped victims were all recovered and they have been returned safe. None of them lost their lives or were harmed,” Onyia said.

According to him, the security agencies prioritised the safety of the victims throughout the operation.

“Part of what was used was the ransom amount as bait, as part of our strategy. That was not the only strategy,” he said.

Onyia said all the ransom money paid had subsequently been recovered following the arrest of the suspects.

“So yes, ransoms were paid but they have all been recovered completely. They were used strictly as strategy and we have it and nobody was killed,” he said.