Mafab Moves to Transfer $273.6M 5G Spectrum to MTN as Nigeria Resets Spectrum Regime
Mafab is moving to transfer its $273.6 million 5G spectrum licence to MTN, a development that would significantly consolidate Nigeria's 5G landscape around the dominant incumbent. The transfer is unfolding alongside what is described as a broader Nigerian spectrum regulatory clean-up, signalling a fundamental reset of the country's 5G licensing regime.
Nigeria 5G: the clean-up reveals who spectrum policy actually serves
The NCC's "bigger clean-up" is the real story here — not just Mafab handing a $273.6 million block it never built on to MTN, but a regulator quietly reshuffling spectrum across multiple holders who couldn't deploy.
The uncomfortable detail: MTN already controls 51.3% of Nigeria's mobile market. Adding Mafab's 100 MHz block makes it the dominant operator on the next generation of network too. The NCC knows this, which is why sources suggest it may force MTN to relinquish existing holdings elsewhere — "musical chairs", as one put it.
That condition matters enormously. Without it, a policy designed to get spectrum off idle hands and into active networks ends up concentrating the entire Nigerian mobile market further around one player. With it, there's at least a chance the clean-up produces something closer to balance.
Which version actually emerges from the approval process is the only question worth watching now.
2 sources
- Mafab to give up its 5G spectrum as Nigeria starts a bigger clean-up · techcabal.com · T1
- Mafab moves to transfer its $273.6M 5G spectrum to MTN · technext24.com · T2