MTN Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecoms operator by revenue, has released its Q1 2025 financial results, and the picture is mixed.
While data traffic and fintech adoption surged, the company’s profit after tax fell by 14.7%, largely due to currency volatility and rising operational costs. But beneath the dip in earnings lies a deeper story about Nigeria’s evolving digital economy, and what the telco giant plans to do about it.
The Headline Numbers (Jan–Mar 2025)
- Revenue: ₦700.3 billion (+17.8% YoY)
- Data revenue: ₦282.9 billion (+38.5% YoY)
- Fintech revenue: ₦29.8 billion (+8.6%)
- Profit After Tax: ₦87.4 billion (▼14.7%)
- EBITDA Margin: 49.1% (▼2.4pp)
So while MTN is growing at the top, profits are getting squeezed at the bottom.
What’s Driving Growth?
- Data is the new airtime
- Data traffic grew by 42.1%
- Data subscribers now account for over 70% of total users
- The rollout of 4G and 5G is expanding faster than expected
- Fintech still rising
- Mobile money (MoMo) continues to grow despite regulatory challenges
- MTN is positioning itself as a digital wallet and payment infrastructure provider for Nigeria
- Enterprise & API services
- Businesses are turning to MTN for cloud, security, and API integration
- This is a future cash cow, especially as Nigeria digitizes
So Why Did Profits Fall?
- FX devaluation: The naira’s weakness inflated dollar-denominated costs
- Regulatory fines & taxes: As government pressure on telcos increases
- Rising energy and lease costs: Especially with site expansion for 5G
MTN is now fighting a familiar battle: scale vs. margin.
Telcos Are Becoming Banks + ISPs
The 21st-century telco isn’t just selling airtime, it’s selling:
- Bandwidth
- Payment services
- Identity infrastructure
- APIs
This means they must spend like a tech company, but still navigate government policy like a bank.
What to Watch
- Will MTN fully spin off its fintech arm for outside investment?
- Can it protect its margins amid inflation and fuel subsidy removal?
- Will competitors (Airtel, Glo, Starlink) erode its enterprise and mobile market share?
Financial Juggernut Take
MTN Nigeria isn’t just a telco anymore, it’s a digital backbone.
The real signal isn’t in the drop in profit, it’s in the rise of data and digital money.
