Nigeria’s push to deepen broadband penetration and digital inclusion received a boost in 2025, as MTN Nigeria expanded network coverage to 93.7 per cent of the population. According to the company’s just-released 2025 Sustainability Report, the company invested N2.7 billion in social-impact initiatives that reached more than 534,000 people.
The company says the improved coverage, up from 93% in 2024, was driven by the continued rollout of base stations across rural and underserved communities. This included the deployment of 229 integrated renewable, solar-powered rural telephony sites under its Project Zero initiative. Broadband penetration across MTN’s network footprint reached 90.1%, while 4G population coverage remained stable at about 82%.
And there’s more. The Nigerian Communications Commission says MTN Nigeria accounted for more than half of the country’s active GSM connections in 2025, serving approximately 89.64 million active mobile lines.
The CSR footprint of the company also expanded last year. MTN Foundation’s increased recipients rose to more than 534,000. The programmes in 2025 spanned community infrastructure, maternal healthcare, youth empowerment and digital access. Under its STEM scholarship scheme, 300 students studying science and technology disciplines in public tertiary institutions received scholarships worth N300,000 annually through graduation. The company also continued its Scholarship for Blind Students and Top-10 UTME Scholarship initiatives, while distributing more than 25,000 learning devices in partnership with state governments.
Another focus for the year was child online safety as MTN Nigeria’s ‘Help Children Be Children’ in response to growing concerns around online grooming and exposure to harmful digital content. The initiative includes school sensitisation programmes, parental workshops and collaborations with civil society organisations. On the flip side, the company disclosed that it spent more than NGN1 billion on infrastructure repairs and security interventions following 9,218 fibre cuts recorded nationwide during the year, incidents linked largely to vandalism and theft of telecoms assets.