Nigeria's Economy Surges with Telecom-Driven Payments

In 2025, Nigeria's electronic payment transactions reached ₦3.458 quadrillion, a significant increase from ₦1.078 quadrillion in 2024, as reported by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The transaction volume rose to 47.9 billion from 11.3 billion.

By mid-2026, Point-of-Sale terminals processed ₦41.74 trillion, marking a 62.5 percent increase from the previous year, supported by 8.36 million registered POS devices. The NIBSS Instant Payment platform was rated as the first African instant payment system to achieve "mature" status, with 57.7 million unique users, representing 52 percent of the adult population.

The telecom infrastructure is essential for these transactions, as every POS terminal and mobile banking app relies on mobile network connections. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, former Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank, emphasized the importance of telecom infrastructure for banking, noting that USSD codes depend on it.

In 2025, mobile network operators invested over ₦2.13 trillion in infrastructure, with tower companies contributing an additional ₦373.8 billion.