As Nigeria intensifies efforts to expand non-oil revenue and improve tax collection under its fiscal reform agenda, corporate tax contributions from major private-sector operators are becoming increasingly critical to government financing. Supporting that drive, MTN Nigeria said it has paid N878.7 billion in taxes, levies and duties to federal and state authorities in the 2025 financial year, representing a 15 per cent increase from the previous year, according to the company’s just-released 2025 Sustainability Report.
The company paid N543.9 billion in taxes and levies in 2023, before that figure climbed to N764 billion in 2024 a cumulative rise of roughly 62per cent over two years, tracking the company’s recovery from deep forex-driven losses to a profit after tax of N1.11 trillion in 2025, with total revenue surging 54.8 per cent to N5.20 trillion and operating profit climbing to N2.08 trillion from N778.2 billion.
The N878.7 billion remitted to government last year covered corporation tax, value-added tax, spectrum fees, import duties, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) levies and contributions under the Rural and Urban Terrestrial Infrastructure (RUTI) tax credit scheme, an initiative with deep roots in MTN Nigeria’s public-private partnership playbook.
The company has long embraced such mechanisms: it participated in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, under which it committed N202.8 billion towards reconstructing the 110-kilometre Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. In 2025, the RUTI scheme reached 50per cent completion after securing approval for an additional N23 billion tax credit aimed at expanding fibre and telecoms infrastructure in underserved communities, a model the company argues supports infrastructure development without requiring direct public expenditure.
The report also highlighted the company’s growing domestic economic footprint, with 62per cent of procurement spending directed to Nigerian suppliers in 2025. This was up from 59.6per cent a year earlier. MTN said the policy aligns with the Federal Government’s local-content objectives and supports sectors including civil construction, logistics, software services and power infrastructure.
The company’s operational footprint expanded to 2,087 active base stations nationwide, while active mobile subscribers stood at 85.4 million by the third quarter of 2025. Active data users rose to 51.1 million, supported by smartphone penetration of 65.1per cent.
During the period under review, the telco renewed its 800megahertz (MHz) spectrum licence for another 10 years to December 2034 and secured regulatory approval to lease additional spectrum from T2 Mobile, formerly 9Mobile, across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
