Nigeria data boom: MTN users now average 14GB monthly data, up from 500MB seven years ago, CEO says

Nigerians are consuming mobile data like never before, with MTN Nigeria revealing that average monthly usage per subscriber has skyrocketed from 500 megabytes in 2017 to 14 gigabytes in 2025, a 27-fold surge that underscores the nation’s dramatic shift from voice calls to digital lifestyles. Ralph Mupita, Group CEO of MTN Group, shared the insight on Thursday during the Y'ello Chair Vodcast while reflecting on the telecoms group’s half-year results, where he highlighted Nigeria as a market at the centre of Africa’s digital revolution. “I often tell the story that when I first joined the Nigeria board in 2017 I saw the average usage per customer was 500 MB, today it's 14 GB. That's in seven years. So there's this surge of demand as people use the internet for their own kind of productivity, their own lifestyles,” according to Mupita who joined the team soon after the SIM registration fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the telecoms regulator. He explains MTN’s three pillars beyond 2025: connectivity, fintech, and digital infrastructure. Connectivity: expanding internet access, owning the home, helping customers transition from voice to data. Fintech: not to become a universal bank, but to drive financial inclusion for the unbanked. Digital infrastructure: fiber, data centers, and capacity to handle data workloads expected to grow 4x in the next three to four years. [caption id="attachment_184771" align="aligncenter" width="886"] Ralph Mupita, Group CEO of MTN Group. Image credit: MTN.[/caption] “I often tell the story that when I first joined the Nigeria board in 2017 I saw the average usage per customer was 500 MB, today it's 14 GB. That's in seven years. So there's this surge of demand as people use the internet for their own kind of productivity, their own lifestyles,” Mupita says. Artificial Intelligence also features in MTN’s long-term plans, along with building the right skills and capital base to sustain growth through 2030. When asked what makes this particular set of results stand out, he explains: “There are two forces behind strong results—operational execution and the macro environment. MTN’s execution has always been strong; the difference this time is that the macro has been more supportive. In Nigeria, for example, the currency has been relatively stable, inflation is coming down, oil production is improving. Ghana’s cedi even appreciated against the dollar, helped by gold exports. South Africa has been challenging in prepaid, but overall, the environment supported our execution. That combination produced the best results in my time here.” Mupita: Nigeria is MTN's big market According to Mupita, “what is a standout in this period is that that operational execution which has always been there even last year when we're having our challenges in Nigeria, the quality of the execution was never in doubt for me if I think about Nigeria because I see the indicators of the quality of the execution, and obviously you can do better here and there there's always something to improve on. But that's always been sustained. What is different now is that the macro has been a bit more benign and actually supportive of the overall financial results. You know, Nigeria, the currency is pretty stable. Inflation's coming down. The Dangote refinery is there. Oil production is improving. Central Bank operations are working well. Willing buyer, willing seller, that's Nigeria, which is a big market.” Reflecting on the past five years, he says MTN has done well in expanding internet access and building partnerships to increase handset penetration. Where they could have done better is accelerating the fintech ecosystem, but progress continues. On leadership and decision-making, he describes his role as “player-coach”: “You’re in the trenches with the team, but you must also step back to see the bigger picture. Leadership is about putting the right people in the right positions, depending on the context. Recently, we reshuffled management to support our strategy beyond 2025. We have a strong bench of leaders, mostly homegrown, but also fresh perspectives from outside.” He stresses the importance of filtering “signal from noise” as a CEO: “Not every issue is consequential. Some are one-way door decisions—once made, you can’t go back—so you must slow down and think them through. Two-way door decisions can be reversed, so you can delegate more. Focus your energy on signal and one-way doors. That’s how you stay aligned to your North Star.” Finally, geopolitics looms large. “You can’t run a multinational in Africa without paying attention to geopolitics. It shapes economies, currencies, supply chains, and regulatory landscapes. Some factors are central, others peripheral, but you must always keep them on your radar.” [caption id="attachment_184773" align="aligncenter" width="638"] Dr Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria CEO. Image credit: MTN Nigeria.[/caption] According to Mupita, “what is a standout in this period is that that operational execution which has always been there even last year when we're having our challenges in Nigeria, the quality of the execution was never in doubt for me if I think about Nigeria because I see the indicators of the quality of the execution, and obviously you can do better here and there there's always something to improve on. But that's always been sustained. What is different now is that the macro has been a bit more benign and actually supportive of the overall financial results. You know, Nigeria, the currency is pretty stable. Inflation's coming down. The Dangote refinery is there. Oil production is improving. Central Bank operations are working well. Willing buyer, willing seller, that's Nigeria, which is a big market.” If he were to pick five geopolitical issues that are front and centre right now, he says the global conditions at play include trade tariffs and interactions between different markets. “With the US, you have to pay attention to that. You also have to pay attention to where there’s conflict and the consequences of those conflicts. We have conflict on the African continent—Sudan, for example, where we operate. There’s often this sense that conflict is really only in other geographies, but we see it firsthand.” Another issue is technology developments. There are massive shifts in AI, for example—who has access to the most advanced chipsets and how that impacts us at MTN. Then there are supply chains: what’s developing because of export controls and how that affects access to semiconductors. And finally, pools of capital. “We’re a capital-intensive business, so we must pay attention to where financing will come from.” For him, these are all issues where you have to consider the direct and second-order effects on your business. And a lot of the time, you don’t know the truth. So you run scenarios: “What if this happens? What’s the probability?” What’s interesting now is that things once considered “one in 100-year events” are happening more frequently. “Climate change is an obvious example, but look at what happened to the naira in late 2023 and 2024. Five years ago, if you’d said the naira would be at 1,500, people would have laughed. The conventional wisdom was that it would never be devalued. That’s why we emphasize tail risks—high impact, low probability events. They can sink your business if you ignore them.” In this kind of geopolitical context, MTN is in a state of constant change. “My first task every morning is to look at the news flow and assess what’s going on.” Linked to geopolitics are the legal challenges MTN has faced, most of which he says are outside South Africa. These cases—signal versus noise—raise the question: is there any prospect of resolution soon? According to him, “It’s important to put this in context. Strategically, MTN decided five years ago to orderly exit the Middle East, starting with consolidated subsidiaries. We believed we had no unique advantage there, unlike Africa where we understand how to allocate capital, manage risk, and engage geopolitically. Exiting hasn’t been easy—Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iran all posed different challenges. Sanctions, compliance, hostile regimes. We even sold Yemen for a dollar because it wasn’t viable to remain.” That brings me to three major legal matters. First, the Turkcell case, tied to our 2005 license in Iran. The Supreme Court of Appeal recently upheld our position, though jurisdiction was split. We’ve appealed to the Constitutional Court, and this matter has been ongoing since 2012. Second, the ATA (Anti-Terrorism Act) cases—five in total, since 2019. These have been about jurisdiction so far, not the merits of wrongdoing. Third, the US Department of Justice’s request for information, which we’re cooperating with on a voluntary basis. It’s confidential, and to be clear, we haven’t been accused of wrongdoing. Importantly, the issues overlap with the ATA cases. Mupita explains that legal processes are indeterminate—they can take years. “But we’ll continue engaging constructively. And as you noted, these cases are tied to our Middle East presence, not Africa.” Now, leadership in such an environment is about keeping it together. In 2025, it’s easy for private-sector matters to spill into geopolitical hot potatoes. For MTN, being in telecoms—a regulated, essential service—means constant engagement with states. “We use national airwaves, we pay spectrum fees, and we provide services that are close to human rights in today’s world. That automatically places us in the geopolitical space.” On top of that, there’s the global race for AI supremacy—who controls semiconductors, data, and platforms. “We’re in a geopolitically sensitive industry by default. That’s why the most important thing is to engage, be transparent, and tell our story. And our story is simple: MTN is obsessed with digital and financial inclusion in Africa. We want to connect people and let them live better lives. With 300 million customers, we believe we’re Africa’s most important company. That influence comes with responsibility and humility.” Mupita reckons that: “On AI, we can’t afford to sit back and leave it to the Global North. If we do, Africa risks becoming a digital underclass within three to five years. By 2050, Africa will have the world’s largest workforce—we can’t let them fall behind. That’s why I’m reskilling myself as a CEO, learning how new technologies can improve productivity and create solutions. If we’re not careful, telcos could face a Kodak moment—missing the inflection point and becoming irrelevant.” MTN’s mission, Mupita says, is to build three long-term platforms: connectivity, fintech, and digital infrastructure. That’s the five-day Test match. The T20s are the day-to-day battles—meeting weekly recharge targets, sustaining operational momentum. You don’t have to win every battle, but you must win the war. On a lighter note, one of the unexpected joys of being at MTN has been the culture. Someone once told me, “I can’t guarantee you happiness, but I can guarantee you won’t be bored.” And that’s true. The people here have a missionary zeal, a deep love for Africa. Even in the small things—like me wearing African attire from my Lagos tailor—it’s about pride in this continent. That’s filtered through MTN’s ranks naturally. For the MTN Group CEO, “at the end of the day, what excites us is the impact we’re making: connecting people, empowering women through mobile money, transforming lives. It’s a huge responsibility, but also a privilege.”

Nigerians are consuming mobile data like never before, with MTN Nigeria revealing that average monthly usage per subscriber has skyrocketed from 500 megabytes in 2017 to 14 gigabytes in 2025, a 27-fold surge that underscores the nation’s dramatic shift from voice calls to digital lifestyles.

Related Articles

Meta debuts AI translations to help creators cross language barriers

Nigeria’s pioneer operator, ntel, dials Q1 2026 telecoms bounceback amid ₦30.72B lift

Related Posts

Latest Articles

POPULAR ARTICLES

Latest Videos

ABOUT TECHNOLOGY TIMES

CONTACT US

LEGAL & COMPLIANCE

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Add New Playlist