Africa’s foremost telecommunications operator, MTN says since Nigeria’s telecom revolution started about 25 years ago, it has paid over N7 trillion in taxes, underscoring not only its immense contribution to the country’s fiscal strength but also its role as a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economic development.
Chief financial officer of MTN Nigeria, Modupe Kadiri disclosed this in Lagos at the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce August 2026 Breakfast Forum themed ‘Building Local Content Together 25+ Years of Shared Growth.’
Emphasising the importance of local content development, which reflects a forward-looking strategy aimed at empowering Nigerian talents and businesses by prioritising indigenous participation in the economy, Kadiri disclosed that MTN spent over N2.7 trillion in 2025, with 62 percent of its procurement expenditure directed to local suppliers, up from the 9.6 per cent recorded in 2024.
Kadiri said the firm has equally invested over $3 billion in digital infrastructure across the country.
The CFO said the figures represented different aspects of the company’s contribution to the economy, ranging from taxation to employment, infrastructure and enterprise developments, and Nigerian ownership.
“When companies pay taxes, national institutions are supported; when infrastructure is built, economic capacity expands; when Nigerians lead businesses, professional capacity grows and when Nigerians own shares, participation in wealth creation increases,” the CFO said.
Kadiri noted that the increase from 9.6 per cent to 62 per cent represented significant progress, noting that the remaining 38 per cent of procurement spending presents a huge opportunity to strengthen local capacity, specifically in technology-intensive areas.
He stated that most of MTN’s technology requirements are now fulfilled by local suppliers, unlike in the early years of the company’s operations when such requirements were largely handled by foreign contractors.
According to him, the first phase of telecommunications local content was largely driven by network rollout, site acquisition, distribution, civil works, marketing, support, logistics and operational services.
