The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to announce a new tariff regime for the telecommunications sector, which will result in higher costs for data, voice, and SMS services.
This follows years of requests from telecom operators, who cited the rise in operating costs due to the forex crisis and inflation as reasons for the increase.
Despite these pressures, the Minister of Communications, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has indicated that the government is willing to allow price hikes but dismissed a 100% increase requested by operators.
A comparative analysis shows Nigeria has the lowest cost for 2GB of data in Africa, priced at $2.35, compared to other countries like Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, with costs ranging from $2.66 to $7.98.
Despite Nigeria’s lower telecom tariffs, the country’s GDP per capita remains the lowest among these countries, further complicating the situation.
Telecom operators, such as Airtel Nigeria, argue that a tariff increase is necessary to maintain service quality and support Nigeria’s digital transformation.
Rising operational costs, including energy and foreign exchange devaluation, have made it increasingly difficult for operators to sustain operations at the current tariffs.