When 5G launched in Nigeria in September 2022, it got here with daring guarantees: ultrafast speeds, low latency, and a leap towards good metropolis innovation. However practically three years on, the momentum has slowed. As of April 2025, solely 2.81% of cell subscribers—fewer than 4 million individuals—are utilizing 5G, falling far in need of expectations. 

The rollout has been slowed down by excessive infrastructure prices, low system adoption, and weak client demand, casting doubt over the expertise’s near-term affect in Africa’s largest telecom market.

A serious roadblock is Nigeria’s difficult financial local weather. Inflation, forex devaluation, and hovering power costs have sharply elevated working prices for telecom operators. Based on the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), industry-wide bills surged by 50.92% in 2023 alone—from ₦2.09 trillion in 2022 to ₦3.16 trillion—pushed by pricier diesel, rising safety prices, and costly imported tools. The naira’s depreciation by over 220% between 2021 and 2024 has solely deepened the monetary pressure.

This sluggish progress in 5G deployment is holding again Nigeria’s digital ambitions at a time when quick, secure web is important for sectors like fintech, e-learning, and distant work. With tens of millions nonetheless counting on overburdened 4G and unreliable 3G networks, many customers, particularly in underserved areas, are turning to high-cost alternate options like Starlink. Whereas costly, Starlink presents constant, high-speed entry, highlighting rising dissatisfaction with native networks and placing added stress on operators to ship on 5G’s promise.

“It’s in all probability a sign that customers haven’t outstripped the capability of 4G base stations,” mentioned Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud Africa, a cloud infrastructure supplier. “Migrating to new expertise is dear, particularly when the prevailing community nonetheless serves person wants. Operators are seemingly making an attempt to get better 4G investments earlier than diving deeper into 5G.”

Telecom giants like MTN have borne the brunt of this price stress. In 2024, MTN Nigeria’s working bills jumped 76.6% year-on-year to ₦1.52 trillion. Throughout the sector, prices have risen by greater than 300% in simply two years, with power remaining the most important burden. Most telecom infrastructure runs on diesel-powered mills as a consequence of poor grid reliability. And with most community tools priced in {dollars}, whereas income is earned in naira, telecom operators face a widening monetary mismatch—one which continues to stall the 5G rollout.

A story of three operators: MTN, Airtel, and Mafab

Of the three operators licensed to launch 5G providers, solely MTN and Airtel have achieved tangible milestones. MTN launched its business 5G providers in September 2022, rapidly increasing throughout main cities together with Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Maiduguri. Its rollout was backed by strategic funding and partnerships, notably with Ericsson, which supplied community infrastructure and technical assist. 

As of early 2025, MTN has over 2100 energetic 5G websites throughout 13 cities. Throughout MTN Nigeria’s Q1 2025 report launch, Karl Toriola, the corporate’s CEO, defined that growth was stalled. 

“Our 4G community protection expanded to 82.7% of the inhabitants (up 0.2pp), whereas 5G protection remained secure at 12.7%, as we prioritised enhancing capability over broadening protection throughout the interval,” Toriola mentioned. 

MTN additionally proritised the rollout of its Fibre-to-the-Residence (FTTH) or MTN residence broadband service, which additionally faucets its 5G mounted wi-fi entry. 5G Fastened Wi-fi Entry (FWA) is a strategy to ship high-speed web to houses and companies utilizing 5G wi-fi expertise as an alternative of conventional fixed-line infrastructure like fiber optics or copper cables. 

Airtel Nigeria, which secured its 5G license in January 2023, launched providers in Lagos, Ogun, Abuja, and Rivers states, deploying greater than 200 5G websites. The corporate has pledged to double its capital expenditure in 2025 to speed up its rollout, significantly in rural and underserved areas. 

In distinction, Mafab Communications has did not deploy a single operational 5G web site regardless of being awarded a license alongside MTN in 2021. The corporate has struggled with a number of setbacks, together with delays in acquiring a Unified Entry Service License (UASL), an absence of telecom infrastructure, and difficulties securing funding as a consequence of Nigeria’s ongoing international change challenges. Though Mafab held a public launch occasion in January 2023, it has repeatedly missed deadlines and has but to satisfy its dedication to roll out 102 5G websites in Abuja and Kano.

To date, solely MTN Nigeria has met the NCC launch requirement, which mandates that licensees start business operations inside the first 12 months. Based on NCC pointers, 5G deployment in Nigeria follows a 10-year phased rollout technique. Within the first two years, operators are anticipated to launch providers in no less than one state in every of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. This should be adopted by growth into six further states between the third and fifth years. From the sixth to the tenth 12 months, operators are required to attain nationwide protection. Whereas business rollouts have begun in key cities and state capitals, additional growth will rely on infrastructure availability, market demand, and broader financial situations.

Why 5G is stalling

The significance of 5G extends far past sooner cell downloads. In idea, it may assist next-gen options like telemedicine, autonomous transport, good agriculture, and distant studying. For a rustic like Nigeria, residence to over 200 million individuals, a rising tech ecosystem, and persistent infrastructure deficits, 5G guarantees each financial transformation and digital inclusion.

However that promise is colliding with the tough actuality of Nigeria’s telecom setting.

Excessive working prices are probably the most rapid problem. The importation of 5G tools is dear and susceptible to forex fluctuations, whereas community deployment requires dense fiber optic backhaul, costly tower upgrades, and big energy consumption. At a time when power prices are hovering and the naira stays risky, telecom operators are grappling with unsustainable capital expenditure.

Spectrum challenges add to the bottleneck. Though the NCC has auctioned frequencies within the 3.5GHz band, most of the optimum bands for 5G stay tied up in legacy providers like TV and satellite tv for pc broadcasting. Fragmented assignments and excessive spectrum charges have delayed growth, whereas regulatory processes stay gradual and inconsistent.

Then there’s the buyer angle. The typical Nigerian subscriber remains to be transitioning from 3G to 4G, and 5G-compatible units are largely unaffordable for many. With entry-level 5G smartphones nonetheless priced effectively above the common month-to-month earnings, client demand stays low. And for individuals who do undertake 5G, information prices stay prohibitive, with ₦3 per MB translating into steep payments for high-bandwidth providers like video streaming or on-line gaming.

A continental battle

Nigeria’s struggles are usually not distinctive. Throughout the continent, 5G deployment is lagging as a consequence of related monetary, regulatory, and social constraints. Based on {industry} estimates, solely a couple of dozen African international locations have launched restricted 5G providers, with rollouts principally restricted to city facilities.

South Africa, which launched 5G in 2020, stays the continental chief, with over 10.8 million subscribers as of late 2024 and 50% inhabitants protection, projected to achieve 60% by the tip of 2025. Nonetheless, even in South Africa, development is slower than anticipated, and use instances stay restricted exterior city facilities.

In most different African international locations, the shortage of fundamental web entry in rural areas and the give attention to increasing 4G protection make 5G a tough promote, each technically and economically.

The hole between promise and actuality

In Nigeria, the 5G rollout has highlighted a broader drawback in digital infrastructure planning: the mismatch between hype and actuality. Whereas regulators and telecom operators tout the potential of 5G to energy digital economies, the groundwork for fulfillment—reasonably priced units, sturdy infrastructure, client consciousness, and coverage alignment—remains to be beneath building.

Even the place 5G has been deployed, adoption stays tepid. Many subscribers both don’t see the distinction in efficiency or are unable to afford the plans and units wanted to get pleasure from it. And not using a compelling worth proposition, akin to dramatically cheaper or higher service, 5G dangers changing into a “premium” possibility accessible solely to a fraction of the inhabitants.

What must occur subsequent

For Nigeria’s 5G ambitions to realize traction, a number of key situations should align. First, system affordability should enhance, with native and international producers providing low-cost 5G smartphones suited to the African market. Second, spectrum reform is important: regulators must decrease spectrum charges and speed up reallocation processes to ease deployment. 

Third, infrastructure sharing needs to be inspired to assist operators minimize prices by co-using towers, fiber networks, and energy amenities. Fourth, client training is important, as many Nigerians nonetheless don’t perceive the advantages of 5G over 4G; focused consciousness campaigns may assist. 

Lastly, quite than specializing in futuristic purposes, telcos ought to prioritise sensible use instances that resonate with on a regular basis customers, akin to enhancing cell banking, video calls, and e-learning. Based on Diseye Isoun, Diseye Isoun, founder, Content material Oasis, an Web Service Supplier (ISP), subscribers’ major want is dependable and reasonably priced broadband. 

“If 5G can play a job, nice,” Isoun advised TechCabal. “However technique and coverage needs to be holistically centered on strengthening native ISPs, offering connectivity within the oasis of productiveness and nationwide improvement, akin to academic establishments, well being facilities, business zones, and facilities of citizen engagement.”

Regardless of its gradual begin, 5G will not be useless on arrival in Nigeria. MTN and Airtel’s investments present that the muse is being laid—even when it’s slower than anticipated. However for the expertise to maneuver past city elites and into the each day lives of common Nigerians, the ecosystem round it should evolve: coverage, pricing, partnerships, and sensible relevance.

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