MTN Nigeria Earns 2.5x Airtel's Data Revenue But Airtel Grows Faster
MTN Nigeria pulled ₦1.86 trillion in data revenue from April to September 2026—about 2.5 times Airtel Nigeria's ₦739.84 billion for the same period. But Airtel grew faster from a smaller base: 33.8% year-on-year in constant currency versus MTN's 28.3% in naira. Data now drives 59.6% of MTN's ₦3.12 trillion total revenue and 54% of Airtel's ₦1.37 trillion mobile-services revenue. MTN's financial year runs January–December while Airtel Africa's runs April–March; Nairametrics aligned both to April–September by subtracting MTN's Q1 from its nine-month figures and converted Airtel's dollar results at ₦1,360/$.
MTN leads in subscribers too—57.2 million active data users versus Airtel's 32.9 million—but earns disproportionately more per user. MTN's ARPU sits at ₦5,150 (January–September) against Airtel's ₦3,808 (April–September). MTN's data users average 15.3 GB monthly (up 16.2% YoY); Airtel's smartphone users average 16.7 GB (up from 12.7 GB). MTN added ₦409 billion in data sales year-on-year, accounting for 93% of its revenue growth. Airtel more than doubled Nigerian capex to $177 million to chase that gap.
At October 30 prices, investors paid 23x earnings for Airtel Africa versus 12x for MTN Nigeria. On an EV/EBITDA basis the premium narrows to 11% (6.5x vs 5.9x). MTN offers a 3.06% interim dividend yield (₦26/share at ₦850); Airtel's is 0.66% (US3.1 cents at ₦6,300). MTN CEO Karl Toriola targets margin protection and fintech revival; Airtel CEO Sunil Taldar is accelerating network investment. Will Airtel's heavier spending close the revenue gap fast enough to justify its valuation premium, or does MTN's cheaper entry and higher yield make it the smarter bet for 2027?