Do you remember when owning a mobile phone in Nigeria was an exclusive status symbol, sending a ‘missed call’ was a recognised communication strategy, and a single SMS required careful character counting?
MTN Nigeria is bringing those nostalgic moments back to life while charting its next quarter-century of operations.
To mark 25 years of connecting the country, the telecommunications giant has opened ‘Y’ello Street’, a museum-style, interactive exhibition situated at the MTN Plaza car park in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Open to the public through August 17, the immersive installation offers visitors a walk down memory lane-featuring vintage SIM card packages, early phone models, retro memorabilia, and interactive displays that trace how communication in Africa’s largest economy has evolved since MTN made its debut in 2001.
For many visitors, the experience is as much an emotional retrospective as it is a showcase of technology, illustrating how deeply mobile connectivity has woven itself into the social and commercial fabric of everyday Nigerian life.
A N1.6 trillion Infrastructure Bet
While ‘Y’ello Street’ celebrates the cultural history of the feature-phone era, the company behind it is operating at a vastly different scale today.
Speaking at the exhibition opening, Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of MTN Nigeria, revealed that the operator has invested over N1.6 trillion in capital expenditure (Capex) over the last 18 months alone. The massive outlay has been directed toward network expansion, capacity upgrades, and service quality improvements to keep pace with surging data consumption.
According to Kadri, MTN’s Capex (excluding leases) grew by 92.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 to relieve network congestion in major metropolitan centers. In addition to capital investment, the operator paid more than N620 billion in taxes and regulatory levies during the same 18-month period.
‘Over the past 25 years, MTN has been leading the way,’ Kadri noted, tracing the transition from traditional voice calls to data-heavy platforms like WhatsApp, video streaming, and mobile financial applications.
The Strategic Pivot: From Connectivity to Platform Economics
With a subscriber base touching 96 million customers, MTN Nigeria is preparing for a future where traditional voice calls and SMS are no longer the core engines of top-line growth. Instead, the operator is shifting its focus toward artificial intelligence (AI), financial technology (FinTech), digital content, and cloud infrastructure.
FinTech and Platform Services
The first 25 years of Nigerian telecommunications were primarily about connecting people. The next era is about monetizing what happens after they connect.
Through MoMo Payment Service Bank and expanded digital channels, MTN aims to transition users from simple airtime buyers into active consumers of financial, entertainment, and enterprise services.
Kadri highlighted that an evolving regulatory landscape has created broader latitude for telco-led financial inclusion and AI-driven consumer products.