The Nigerian subsidiary more than doubled its profitability in 2025, according to the group’s full-year financial results released on Monday.
MTN Nigeria reported $1.926 billion in Chief Operating Decision Maker earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (CODM EBITDA) in 2025, up from $946.59 million in 2024. The 103.4% year-on-year increase represents one of the sharpest earnings jumps across MTN’s major markets.
CODM EBITDA is the profit metric used by MTN’s senior management to evaluate the performance of its operating markets. It measures earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
The surge in Nigeria’s earnings pushed it well ahead of MTN South Africa, which recorded $1.048 billion in EBITDA in 2025, ending years in which the group’s home market had been its most profitable operation.
At the same time, MTN Ghana also recorded strong growth. Its EBITDA rose from $849.14 million in 2024 to $1.276 billion in 2025, representing a 50.3% increase.
The rapid expansion in Nigeria and Ghana has reshaped MTN’s internal profit rankings, pushing South Africa into third place and signalling a broader shift in the company’s financial centre of gravity toward West Africa.
In 2025, Nigeria generated nearly 84% more profit than South Africa, reinforcing its position as MTN’s most valuable market. While this strengthens the country’s role within the group, it also means MTN’s overall performance is becoming more closely tied to economic and regulatory conditions in Nigeria.
Despite its strong profitability, Nigeria remains one of the most expensive markets for MTN to operate in. Telecom infrastructure in the country depends heavily on diesel-powered generators because of unreliable electricity supply. Operators also spend more on security for remote base stations and on costly network connectivity.
As a result, network operating costs in MTN Nigeria are significantly higher than in South Africa. In 2025, MTN Nigeria’s network costs reached $979.55 million, compared with $412.69 million in South Africa, making the Nigerian operation nearly 2.4 times more expensive to run.
This difference highlights an efficiency contrast between the two markets. South Africa spends roughly 39 cents on network operations for every rand of EBITDA generated, while Nigeria spends about 51 cents to produce the same level of profit. In effect, Nigeria’s profitability is driven more by scale than by operational efficiency.
Nigeria’s strong earnings growth reflects the advantages of operating in Africa’s largest telecom market. With a population of more than 200 million people and rapidly rising demand for mobile data and digital financial services, the country has become a key revenue engine for MTN.
MTN Nigeria accounts for about 51.7% of Nigeria’s telecom market, giving it a dominant position in one of the continent’s fastest-growing digital economies.
The growth has been driven by continued network expansion, rising data consumption and increasing adoption of fintech services such as mobile money, which are opening new revenue streams beyond traditional voice services.
Another factor is operating leverage. While EBITDA more than doubled, the cost of running the network rose only slightly. Direct network costs increased from $933.43 million in 2024 to $979.55 million in 2025, a modest 4.94% rise.
The widening gap between profit growth and operating costs suggests that the Nigerian business is becoming more profitable at scale, generating higher returns as data consumption continues to increase.
Nigeria’s growing dominance within the group carries important strategic implications. With such a large share of earnings now tied to one country, MTN Group has become more exposed to fluctuations in Nigeria’s economy, including exchange-rate volatility, regulatory changes and energy costs.
These risks have already begun to shape corporate decisions. In early 2026, MTN moved to bring more of its tower infrastructure under direct control through the acquisition of assets from IHS Towers, a move aimed at reducing reliance on third-party providers and gaining tighter control over energy and maintenance costs.
For MTN, the challenge now is balancing the immense opportunity in Nigeria with the operational and economic risks that come with it. The country has become the group’s most powerful profit engine, but its growing dominance also means the company’s future performance is increasingly tied to Nigeria’s economic stability.
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