AFCON: MTN CEO Karl Toriola drums support for Super Eagles
MTN Nigeria will invest about N1 trillion in 2025 to upgrade its network and expand service capacity nationwide, Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said on Thursday.
Toriola told journalists that despite harsh macroeconomic conditions in 2024, the company remains committed to enhancing customer experience. He said MTN tracks quality of service daily using independent benchmarks such as crowdsourced speed tests and third-party reports, which show gradual improvement across states.
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“In 2025, we are investing about a trillion naira in capital expenditure to improve quality of service,” he said. “We outspent our competitor nine to one on capacity and quality, and over time, customers naturally migrate more of their spend to the better provider.”
The MTN boss acknowledged that Nigerians often use multiple SIMs for redundancy, but argued that “wallet share” tends to shift to providers with superior service.
Reflecting on last year’s struggles, Toriola said the telecoms sector requires heavy capital inflows for survival. “In 2024, we were making a loss and cash-flow negative. We had to borrow to keep the lights on as the naira moved from N450 to N1,600 per dollar,” he noted.
He stressed that operators must be able to adjust tariffs in line with inflation and currency shocks, warning that without such mechanisms, the industry risks collapse. “In developed markets, tariffs automatically adjust with inflation. Nigeria must adopt the same model if we want a resilient sector,” he said.
Toriola added that stable policies, regulatory clarity, and improved access to foreign exchange are essential for attracting the billions needed to expand digital infrastructure, including fibre rollout and data centres.
“Capital doesn’t care whether you are Nigerian or foreign — it goes where it gets the safest and best returns,” he said.
