What Nigeria must learn from MTN

Let us begin with a number that speaks not of extraction, but of construction: ₦757.4 billion. That is what MTN Nigeria deployed in capital expenditure in just nine months of 2025. It is a figure that dwarfs its own staggering profit and tells the more important story.

This is not a simple corporate turnaround; it is a masterclass in building within a system that specialises in decay. MTN’s journey holds up an unforgiving mirror to the Nigerian state, and we would do well to study the reflection.

To acknowledge MTN’s role is to confront a triumph of process in a landscape of entropy. We exist in a country where a profound “mistrust of any process” has become the public creed and where government pronouncements are met with a weary, earned scepticism.

Here, failure is not an aberration; it is the norm. Yet, MTN executed. It transformed catastrophic forex losses into gains, achieved the logistical feat of becoming the first to provide over 82% of the population with 4G coverage, and pioneered the rollout of 5G. Its decision to rehabilitate the Enugu-Onitsha Motorway under a tax credit scheme is the defining symbol of our predicament.

This corridor is not just a road; it is the crucial economic artery linking the commercial heart of the Southeast to the rest of the country, its decay a direct tax on the productivity of millions.

That a telecoms firm must step in to rebuild a federal highway is a stunning indictment of state failure and a powerful lesson in what focused capability can achieve on shifting ground.

The real instruction, however, lies not in the applause but in the uncomfortable analysis. MTN’s impact reveals a path the state has refused to take.

The first lesson is the absolute supremacy of long-term strategy over short-term politics. While our public endeavours are paralysed by what can only be described as “motion without movement”, MTN played a decade-long game.

Its strategy of relentless investment in network capacity and fibre optics did not swerve with every news cycle or political transition.

Where is the state’s comparably steadfast commitment to national infrastructure? It is buried beneath the rubble of abandoned projects and the hollow theatre of annual budgets.

The second lesson is that true financial stewardship is the bedrock of lasting impact. MTN’s disciplined management secured more than its solvency; it funded the public purse to the tune of over ₦6.9 trillion in taxes, levies, and duties.

This contribution forms a vital revenue stream for a state perpetually drawn to deficits and risky borrowing. Contrast this with a government whose gaze wanders towards pension funds for pet projects. A nation, like a company, cannot spend its way to stability without a disciplined plan.

Ultimately, MTN’s story is powerful because it proves that transformative progress is possible here. Yet, this is its most damning aspect: it is achieved despite the Nigerian system, not because of it.

The company’s societal contributions, from connecting millions to data and driving financial inclusion with MoMo to investing over ₦32.23 billion in youth empowerment and digital skills, should be the baseline output of a functional state.

Instead, the vision, discipline, and execution required are siloed within private entities forced to be their own power, security, and infrastructure companies.

Therefore, the call is twofold. We must recognise MTN for its ruthless demonstration of how to build amidst adversity. More critically, we must demand that our government learn from this blueprint. The model for a functional Nigeria is not a secret; it is written in the strategic choices of those who succeed against our collective odds.

MTN has not merely posted a profit; it has provided a costly, practical lesson in governance and nation-building. The only remaining question is whether the Nigerian state has the humility to open its notebook and finally begin copying.

Chets Nwanze is a partner at SBM Intelligence.