Tariff hikes power MTN Nigeria to ₦5.2 trillion record revenue

MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator, generated more revenue in 2025 reported ₦5.20 trillion ($3.82 billion) in revenue for the year, according to its full-year financial results. This is the highest ever recorded in Nigeria’s telecom sector, up from ₦3.36 trillion ($2.47 billion) in 2024.

Backed by a 51.87% share of Nigeria’s 179.41 million active mobile subscriptions, MTN’s revenue nearly matched the entire telecommunications industry’s ₦5.30 trillion ($3.89 billion) revenue in 2023, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The company also restored positive retained earnings and shareholders’ equity and has proposed a final dividend of ₦15 ($0.011) per share, after announcing an interim dividend of ₦5 ($0.004) in September 2025, bringing the total dividend for the year to ₦20 ($0.015). 

“2025 marked a significant turning point in our business performance and resumption of dividend payments,” Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria chief executive officer, said. “In the period, we returned to profitability, generated stronger free cash flow, and restored positive retained earnings and shareholders’ funds.”

MTN’s performance marks a sharp turnaround after years of economic pressure that pushed telecom operators into losses, as currency devaluation eroded dollar-denominated earnings and reduced average revenue per user (ARPU) from $3.08 in 2023 to $1.89 in 2024.

Improved macroeconomic conditions in 2025, including a more stable naira and regulatory approval for market-reflective pricing, helped unlock revenue growth for operators in the industry. Airtel Africa’s revenue grew 28.3% in reported currency to $4.67 billion during the period, with Nigeria leading performance through a 50.6% expansion in constant-currency revenue.

For MTN, revenue growth of 54.93% translated into a profit after tax of ₦1.11 trillion ($816.29 million), reversing the ₦400.44 billion ($294.48 million) loss recorded a year earlier.

Data demand drives growth

After more than a decade of lobbying for cost-reflective pricing amid rising operating costs, telecom operators secured regulatory approval for tariff increases on January 20, 2025.

Since then, the average price of 1GB of data has doubled to about ₦575 ($0.42), up from ₦287.5 ($0.21). The increase coincided with surging internet usage across Nigeria, driven by streaming, remote work, fintech adoption, and social media consumption.

Nigeria’s annual data consumption rose 35.7% to 13.25 million terabytes in 2025, pushing average monthly usage per subscriber to 89.42GB, compared with 70.09GB from the previous year.

Data has now become MTN’s single largest revenue driver, contributing 53.39% of total earnings and growing 74.58% year-on-year. Voice revenue also expanded by 49.54%, showing continued resilience despite the shift toward internet-based communication. Fintech revenue is up 79.68%. 

Since launching operations in Nigeria in 2001, MTN has evolved from a mobile operator into a critical piece of national digital infrastructure and is now one of the country’s most profitable companies.