MTN Nigeria has become the first African telecommunications operator to exceed 100 million customers, a milestone that cements its lead in the country and gives it control of roughly 51.7% of Nigeria’s active mobile lines. Data published by the Nigerian Communications Commission show MTN’s subscriber total rose from 98.64 million in June to 100.86 million in July, a one-month gain of 2.22 million accounts.
The regulator’s figures show Nigeria’s overall active mobile subscriptions increased to 195.11 million in July, up from 192.23 million in June, adding about 2.88 million lines across all operators. That growth comes as the market slowly recovers from the sharp fall in active connections that followed enforcement of the National Identification Number and SIM linkage rules, an exercise that led to the disconnection of millions of unlinked lines.
Within the sector MTN’s expansion accounted for most of July’s uptick, leaving its nearest rival, Airtel, with 66.76 million subscribers. Globacom and 9mobile held 23.63 million and 3.61 million subscribers respectively. The market shares implied by those totals are 51.7% for MTN, 34.3% for Airtel, 12.1% for Globacom and 1.9% for 9mobile.
Although the recent gains mark a clear recovery, Nigeria’s total active subscriptions remain below pre-enforcement peaks. The country recorded about 207.6 million active lines in October 2020 and a reported 214.35 million in October 2022, figures that preceded the full impact of the NIN-SIM linkage drive.
MTN Nigeria, incorporated in 2000 and led by Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola, began services in 2001 after MTN won GSM licences. Its parent, MTN Group, established in South Africa in 1994, now operates across 19 countries in Africa and the Middle East. For Nigeria’s digital economy, the rebound in mobile lines matters because mobile networks remain the primary route for voice, data and digital financial services available to millions of consumers.
Regulator data for July signal a sector regaining lost ground, but total subscriptions have not yet returned to the levels seen before the NIN-SIM enforcement. The coming months will show whether the recovery continues and how market shares settle between MTN and its competitors.
