Based on new industry data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the adoption of mobile technology continues to grow in Nigeria with the total number of mobile subscriptions hitting 225.88 million in January 2023. This is 3.66 million more mobile subscriptions than the 222.23 million subscriptions that were recorded in December 2022. Teledensity, the number of active telephones per 100 people living within an area, grew to 118.51 percent.
These numbers reflect Nigeria’s prominence in the telecommunications sector, owing to the country’s massive population. Nigeria also boasts one of the highest internet penetrations in Africa at 51%. The country has the largest mobile population in Africa, and with a young population, all growing to be eligible mobile subscribers, the industry is only set to soar higher over the next few years. GSMA, the global body for telecom has projected that Nigeria will have 18 million new telecom subscribers by 2025.
In January, broadband penetration in Nigeria grew to 48.20%, with the number of mobile Internet subscriptions at 155.68 million. This is set to surpass the government’s broadband penetration target of 50% for 2023. MTN Nigeria retained the lion share of mobile subscriptions in Nigeria, with its number of subscriptions growing to 91.95 million, airtel grew to 60.56 million, Globacom grew to 60.34 and 9mobilie grew to 13.03 million. We believe the continuous growth in mobile subscriptions is as a result of telcos recovering from the NIN saga, as the number of NIN registered subscribers has significantly increased to approximately 77% from 16.7% previously.
The growth of the mobile industry has translated to economic gains for the country. In 2022, the industry contributed N10.13tn to the economy in real terms. Looking ahead, we believe that the CBN’s aggressive drive towards cashless policy will continue to boost mobile subscription numbers, as people would be forced to adopt internet banking. Mobile transactions grew by 230% in January. We also expect the persistent expansion of the 4G network and the roll out of the 5G network by telcos to significantly impact mobile subscriber numbers this year.