Nigeria surpasses 200m mobile connections as SIM activations surge

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has reached a new milestone, crossing the 200 million mobile connections mark as operators continue to roll out new subscriber identity module (SIM) card activations. This achievement underscores the rapid pace of digital adoption in Africa’s largest economy, where mobile connectivity is increasingly central to commerce, communication, and everyday life.

Industry analysts note that the surge in connections reflects both aggressive expansion strategies by telcos and rising consumer demand for affordable mobile services. With more Nigerians relying on mobile phones for banking, education, and entertainment, the sector’s growth is reshaping the country’s digital landscape.

The expansion is being driven by major operators who have invested heavily in infrastructure upgrades and nationwide SIM distribution campaigns. Rural and semi-urban communities, once underserved, are now seeing more access to mobile networks, narrowing the digital divide and opening new opportunities for economic participation.

Indeed, the latest subscription statistics, the September edition from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), showed that mobile connections in the country is now 200, 337,097 from 182.2 million as of January 2026. The growth has translated to a teledensity of 92.41 per cent. 4G network remained dominant with 54.3 per cent reach, where over 108.7 million Nigerians are. It should be noted that virtually most Nigerians explored all the networks, including 2G and 3G (which is fast nearing its sunset in most countries, Nigeria inclusive).

Analysis of the data showed that within the period under review, telecom operators activated and reactivated over 18.11 million SIMs. Some SIMs that were barred from the network as a result of one biometric defect or the other have also been corrected and pushed back into the networks.

Recall that through the NIN-SIM Policy Clean-up of 2024 by the NCC and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), some 59.7 million phone lines were erased as part of the nationwide policy requiring all SIM cards to be linked to a verified National Identification Number (NIN) by the September 14, 2024 deadline. This caused active subscriber numbers to drop from 224.7 million in 2023 to 164.9 million by December 2024. As of today, mobile connections have reached over 200 million.