Umuaka Times uncovers why telecom services will continue to becostly in Nigeria.

Umuaka Times has uncovered a major cost factor behind the high price of telecommunications services in Nigeria, with data from MTN Nigeria’s first-half 2026 financial report showing that the telecom giant spent approximately ₦164.38 million every day on diesel to keep its network running. According to the company’s H1 2026 figures, MTN Nigeria spent about ₦29.75 billion on diesel during the first six months of 2026. The expenditure translates to an average of approximately ₦164.38 million daily, or about ₦4.96 billion every month, highlighting the enormous energy burden facing telecommunications operators in the country.

Highly dependable sources disclosed to Umuaka Times last week that the huge diesel bill is largely linked to Nigeria’s unreliable electricity supply. MTN along operates more than 43,000 network sites, many of which require diesel-powered generators either as their primary source of electricity or as backup power when the national grid fails. Industry figures indicate that MTN consumes between 1.3 million and 1.5 million litres of diesel daily across its towers and other installations. The cost of running these generators has become even more significant as diesel prices have risen sharply. At approximately ₦2,000 per litre, industry analysts have estimated that MTN Nigeria’s annual diesel expenditure could reach between ₦80 billion and ₦90 billion, although the company’s actual reported expenditure varies with diesel prices, consumption and its energy mix. Earlier estimates had placed MTN’s annual diesel expenditure at more than ₦60 billion.

Industry sources also confirmed that the energy crisis is not peculiar to MTN; the Nigerian telecommunications industry was estimated to have spent approximately ₦860 billion on diesel in 2025, equivalent to about ₦72 billion every month. The enormous expenditure represents a significant operational cost for companies whose services depend on thousands of continuously powered telecommunications sites distributed across the country. MTN’s own energy data further illustrates the problem. Diesel accounted for 58.11 per cent of the company’s total energy consumption in 2025, making it one of the most significant components of its network operating costs. The company has consequently been accelerating investments in solar power, gas and other alternative energy solutions in an effort to reduce its dependence on diesel generators and lower its operating expenses.

The financial burden does not end with energy costs. MTN Nigeria has also made substantial contributions to government through taxes, levies and fees. The company says that since commencing operations in Nigeria, it has contributed more than ₦2.3 trillion to government through taxes, levies and related payments. In 2024 alone, MTN reported contributing approximately ₦764 billion in taxes and levies, representing an average of about ₦2.09 billion per day during the year.

However, the ₦764 billion figure should not be interpreted as corporate income tax alone. The amount described by MTN as taxes and levies can include different categories of government taxes, regulatory levies, duties and other statutory payments. The company’s 2025 annual report provides more recent information for assessing its total government contributions. Taken together, the figures provide an indication of why telecommunications services can be expensive to operate in Nigeria. Telecom operators must maintain tens of thousands of network sites, provide uninterrupted power in an environment of unreliable grid electricity, purchase enormous quantities of diesel and meet substantial statutory and regulatory obligations. For consumers, the consequence is that a significant portion of the money required to provide a seemingly simple service such as a mobile phone call or internet connection goes into powering and maintaining the infrastructure behind it. Until Nigeria achieves a more reliable and affordable electricity supply, telecom operators are likely to continue carrying substantial energy costs that ultimately exert pressure on the prices of telecommunications services.

Umuaka Times analysis shows that the figures suggest that the challenge facing Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is not simply a question of how much operators charge customers. It is also a question of how much it costs to keep the country’s digital infrastructure alive every day. A more reliable national electricity supply could therefore reduce one of the industry’s biggest operating expenses and potentially create room for more affordable telecommunications services.

An industrialist who preferred not to mantion his name disclosed to Umuaka Times thus:

“I appeal to the Federal Government of Nigeria to declare the electricity sector a national emergency and face the sector with a momentum of interventions. Can you just create an imaginary image of a Nigeria where a telecommunications firm like MTN saves the huge sum of ₦4.96 billion every month which the firm spends to power its installations nationwide? By that time, the cost of calls and data will drastically reduce. If Nigeria does not find an end to electricity crisis, electricity crisis will find an end to Nigeria.”