MTN Nigeria says it plans to invest more than 1 trillion naira (US$735 million) in 2026 as it continues expanding and maintaining its telecommunications infrastructure, while defending recent tariff increases it says were necessary to keep the industry financially viable.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, said the company had already invested about 900 billion naira in 2025, adding that spending would rise further this year as network demand grows across the country.
“We invest more in the expansion and maintenance of this company than we make in profits,” Toriola said during a stakeholder engagement in Lagos themed “Data on Trial.”
The event, which brought together regulators, content creators and subscribers, featured a courtroom-style debate on internet data pricing and access in Nigeria.
Toriola defended the recent tariff adjustment, arguing that the telecommunications sector was under severe financial strain prior to the increase.
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“The tariff increase was implemented for one primary reason: to allow the industry to survive,” he said. “At the point in time when the tariff increase was implemented, we practically could not pay our bills.”
He said the company was struggling to meet operational costs such as diesel for generators, rent and software licensing fees, warning that the industry was on the brink of collapse without intervention.
“We were effectively bankrupt. Without that tariff increase, we would have had to shut down the network,” he said.
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Toriola added that MTN was technically insolvent at the time, citing negative equity conditions that threatened continued operations.
“In the period when the tariff increase was implemented, technically speaking, we were insolvent,” he said. “We were in negative equity. So it was necessary for the industry first just to survive.”
The MTN chief said the adjustment was also essential to enable continued investment in network infrastructure, particularly at a time of rising demand for data services across Nigeria.
He highlighted challenges affecting service delivery, including vandalism of telecom infrastructure, insecurity and disruptions at network sites.
“We’re in a country where area boys will block us from network sites,” he said. “Someone can light up a telecom manhole that will affect 30,000 subscribers.”
Despite these challenges, Toriola said MTN continues to deliver services he described as comparable to global standards.
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“I still believe that I’m proud that we provide pretty much a global standard of service,” he said.
The MTN boss also addressed public concerns over rising data costs, insisting that pricing in Nigeria remains relatively low by global standards, even after recent adjustments.
He argued that operators cannot sustainably offer unlimited data packages due to capacity constraints and the high cost of network expansion.
“We cannot give unlimited internet data to everyone, as much as we would desire it,” he said.
Toriola further urged critics to compare Nigeria’s data pricing with other markets, including Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying Nigerian consumers still enjoy relatively affordable internet access.
“Go and check in Kenya, go and check in Congo, go and check across the world,” he said, “and tell me if data in Nigeria is not one of the cheapest in the world, even after the tariff increase.”
The planned trillion-naira investment underscores MTN’s continued expansion strategy in Africa’s most populous country, where demand for mobile connectivity and broadband services continues to rise rapidly despite economic pressures and consumer concerns over affordability.
