In the second quarter of 2024, MTN Nigeria reached a download speed of 95.62 Mbps, taking the top place in mobile performance across West and Central Africa (WCA).
This achievement, verified by Ookla Speedtest Intelligence, made Nigeria number one among MTN’s operating companies (opcos) in the region, outpacing others in terms of network performance and technological advancement.
Going beyond download speeds, MTN Nigeria also recorded a commendable median upload speed of 17.01 Mbps, narrowly surpassing MTN Ghana at 16.74 Mbps.
The two opcos were the front-runners in both upload speeds and multi-server latency, with Ghana achieving great results despite not yet launching 5G services.
The surge in network performance was consistent across all MTN opcos in WCA, but Nigeria and Ghana stood out by improving their rankings over the past two years.
MTN Nigeria’s top place is attributed to strategic investments in 5G technology and sustained upgrades to its existing network infrastructure.
The rollout of 5G services in Nigeria has been a huge factor in these advancements. Over the past 18 months, MTN Nigeria expanded its 5G service availability from 17.2% in early 2023 to 35.7% by mid-2024, overtaking South Africa’s 31.6%.
This progress was achieved through a $120 million investment aimed at increasing coverage and enhancing broadband accessibility in key urban areas.
Nonetheless, Nigeria’s 5G adoption rate is still relatively low, with only 13.9% of users with 5G-capable devices actively utilising the service, compared to 31.3% in South Africa.
Concerns over data costs, device affordability, and battery life have been barriers to adoption.
To address this, MTN Nigeria is exploring strategies to make 5G services more accessible through affordable data plans and financing options for modern devices.
Performance Across the Region
Beyond Nigeria, MTN opcos in countries like Ghana, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire have also recorded some improvements.
MTN Ghana, for instance, tripled its download speeds within two years, thanks to enhanced infrastructure and high smartphone penetration. Meanwhile, MTN Benin maintained solid performance, although slight declines were observed in early 2024.
Côte d’Ivoire experienced a surge in network speed during the African Football Championship in early 2024 but faced challenges maintaining these gains.
Cameroon lagged behind, showing only modest improvements in both download speeds and latency, while operational challenges and economic instability hindered further progress in other markets like Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry.
Economic and Operational Challenges
MTN’s success comes against the backdrop of economic and political challenges across WCA. Factors such as currency devaluation, inflation, and infrastructure vandalism have increased the cost of operations, while regulatory constraints have slowed down 5G deployment in some countries.
But then, MTN remains focused on its Ambition 2025 strategy, which aims to provide 95% broadband coverage across its markets and double its mobile data user base by 2025.
MTN Nigeria’s achievements show mobile network advancements in Africa’s largest mobile market, which has over 217 million subscribers.
With plans to invest $3.5 billion in Nigeria over the next five years, MTN aims to extend its leadership by expanding 5G coverage, addressing adoption challenges, and bridging the digital divide.
With MTN accelerating its 5G rollout and strengthening its 4G infrastructure, it thrives to meet the region’s increasing demand for reliable and fast mobile connectivity.
