MTN Nigeria Communications Plc spent ₦620.5 billion on capital expenditure excluding right-of-use assets in the first half of 2026, while its network data traffic rose 25.8% from a year earlier.
The Nigerian operator said its spending responded to increased data demand and expanded network capacity and home-broadband services. The filing also names home broadband as a strategic growth platform. Capital expenditure rose 1.2% from ₦613.136 billion in H1 2025.
Average data use per subscriber climbed 15.2% to 14.8 GB in the six months ended June 30. MTN Nigeria’s filing put capex intensity at 20.7%, compared with 25.8% a year earlier. MTN said it expects the measure to moderate in the second half, in line with its full-year capital allocation framework.
MTN Group’s H1 results overview gives slightly different figures for Nigeria: 15.1% growth in average use and capex intensity of 20.6%. MTN Nigeria’s filing reports 15.2% and 20.7%, respectively; the company documents do not explain the difference.
At a Lagos meeting with MTN Media Innovation Fellows on Wednesday, Oct. 28, MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said higher smartphone and other device costs would not halt investment in Nigeria, BusinessDay reported. The outlet also reported that Mupita sees connected homes as a growth opportunity in Nigeria over the next five to 10 years.
In its March 16 results presentation, MTN Group described a groupwide opportunity to connect 20 million to 30 million homes over five years, using fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA). The presentation gave no Nigeria-specific figure, so the groupwide opportunity is separate from the Nigeria outlook BusinessDay attributed to Mupita.
MTN Group reported a 58.2% year-over-year increase in its active home-customer base in H1. BusinessDay also reported that higher device prices could make connectivity less affordable for lower-income consumers.
