MTN Nigeria is making more money than ever. But its average customer is contributing less to that growth.
The telecom operator increased service revenue by 25.9% in the first half of 2026 to ₦2.99 trillion ($2.25 billion), and its subscriber base grew 8.9% to 92.2 million, according to its financial results for H1 2026.
Yet MTN’s average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 8.82% to $3.41 in the second quarter of 2026, its first decline since the second quarter of 2025, when ARPU was $3.02, according to MTN Group’s results fact sheet. Local-currency ARPU fell 1.67% to ₦5,101 ($3.81).
While the decline in dollar ARPU might reflect currency movements, the fall in naira ARPU suggests that the pressure is not purely an exchange-rate effect. The naira ended March at ₦1,383.58/$ and June at ₦1,379.68/$. But MTN added 7.5 million subscribers in the first half of the year, and the influx of new, potentially lower-spending customers grappling with double-digit inflation of 15.91% as of June may also be weighing on the average.
Originally published by TechCabal.