Telecommunications operators in Nigeria have announced plans to invest an additional N1.86 trillion in network expansion this year, following a capital expenditure of N2.13 trillion in 2025. The operators, under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), made this known while reacting to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report that foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the sector slumped significantly in the first quarter of 2026.
ALTON Responds to NBS Report
ALTON commended the Federal Government for its continued support of the industry but called for a more comprehensive framework to track and report investments coming into the sector. The association emphasized the importance of accurate data in shaping investor perceptions and guiding policy decisions. It noted that while the NBS released its Q1 Capital Importation Report, the figures presented do not fully capture the scale of capital deployment within Nigeria’s telecoms industry.
“This disparity between reported foreign capital inflows and actual infrastructure investment highlights a gap in how sectoral capital deployment is currently measured and reported,” the statement read.
Tariff Increase and Industry Recovery
ALTON, in a statement signed by Chairman Gbenga Adebayo and Publicity Secretary Damian Udeh, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for approving a strategic 50 percent tariff increase in 2025. The association described this as a pivotal intervention that rescued the industry from financial distress. According to ALTON, the tariff adjustment restored operational viability, closed critical revenue gaps, and enabled operators to reinvest in infrastructure and service quality.
“The timely investment enabled operators to transition from financial distress to a sustainable, growth-focused model characterized by significant capital reinvestment,” ALTON stated.
Capital Expenditure Plans
The statement revealed that telecom operators, tower companies, and other players in the sector recorded a total capital expenditure of N2.13 trillion in 2025. For 2026, planned capital expenditure stands at N1.86 trillion, with funds directed towards network infrastructure expansion, technology upgrades, and operational investments critical to maintaining service quality and coverage. These commitments, ALTON stressed, are fundamental to advancing Nigeria’s digital economy objectives and improving services for millions of subscribers nationwide.
Discrepancy in FDI Data
While the NBS report indicated a sharp decline in foreign capital importation into the telecom sector, from $80.78 million in 2025 to just $7.24 million in Q1 2026, ALTON argued that this metric only reflected a portion of the actual investment activity. The association explained that much of the sector’s capital deployment now comes from domestic sources, including reinvested operational earnings. These financial mechanisms, ALTON noted, are not fully reflected in conventional foreign capital importation metrics, thereby painting an incomplete picture of the industry’s health.
Proposed Collaborative Framework
To address this reporting gap, ALTON proposed a collaborative engagement among the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the NBS, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The goal, according to the association, is to develop a more inclusive and transparent investment-tracking framework that accurately reflects both foreign and domestic capital flows.
ALTON reassured the Nigerian public that telecom operators remain committed to continuous investment in network expansion, modernization, resilience, and service quality improvements. The association pledged to work closely with regulators and government institutions to ensure that the sector’s contributions to national development are comprehensively documented and appropriately recognized.
MTN Nigeria’s Tax Contributions
In a related development, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to expand non-oil revenue and improve tax collection under its fiscal reform agenda, corporate tax contributions from major private-sector operators are becoming increasingly critical to government financing. Supporting that drive, MTN Nigeria paid N878.7 billion in taxes, levies, and duties to federal and state authorities in the 2025 financial year, representing a 15 percent increase from the previous year, according to the company’s just-released 2025 Sustainability Report.
Specifically, the company paid N543.9 billion in taxes and levies in 2023, before that figure climbed to N764 billion in 2024, a cumulative rise of roughly 62 percent over two years. This tracks the company’s recovery from deep forex-driven losses to a profit after tax of N1.11 trillion in 2025, with total revenue surging 54.8 percent to N5.20 trillion and operating profit climbing to N2.08 trillion from N778.2 billion.
The N878.7 billion remitted to the government in 2025 covered corporation tax, value-added tax, spectrum fees, import duties, NCC levies, and contributions under the Rural and Urban Terrestrial Infrastructure (RUTI) tax credit scheme, an initiative with deep roots in MTN Nigeria’s public-private partnership playbook. The company claimed to have long embraced such mechanisms, including participating in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, under which it committed N202.8 billion towards reconstructing the 110-kilometer Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
