Nigeria’s digital ambitions face a critical challenge as the country’s mobile network quality continues to lag on the global stage.
According to the latest Opensignal Global Network Excellence Index, Nigeria remains stuck at 105th position, out of 137 countries, in terms of overall mobile network experience — a ranking unchanged since February.
This performance stands in stark contrast to countries like South Africa, which has shown marked progress.
“In February, South Africa ranked 64th out of 137 countries in terms of mobile network excellence,” the report notes. “But based on the latest data from the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025), South Africa rose four places to 60th place globally.”
Launched earlier this year, the *Global Network Excellence Index* evaluates mobile infrastructure through direct user experience, focusing on three core metrics: availability of 4G/5G, consistency in supporting high-demand applications, and download speeds.
Nigeria’s metrics reveal some concerning figures. While the country ranked 100th in availability of 4G/5G, its network quality dropped further to 121st. The nation also fell to 120th place in 4G download speeds.
However, in a rare bright spot, Nigeria’s 5G download speed came in at 46th globally — a relatively strong position primarily because fewer countries have fully rolled out the next-gen technology.
Despite licensing major telcos such as MTN, Mafab, and Airtel to provide 5G services, uptake has been sluggish.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reports that as of January 2025, 5G penetration stood at just 2.54%, with only about 4.3 million users accessing the network out of 169 million active mobile subscribers.
Andrey Popov, Principal Analyst at Opensignal, offered insights into the broader context: “Most countries are seeing steady gains in users’ ability to access modern networks. This reflects ongoing investments in networks and the move away from legacy technologies – particularly in lower and upper-middle-income countries, often referred to as emerging markets, where availability gains are often more pronounced.”
However, Popov warned that lower-income markets are lagging: “While availability is rising across most regions, low-income markets are falling behind. Most have yet to launch 5G, and those that have are in the early deployment stages. The slight drop in 4G/5G availability suggests users are spending more time on 2G/3G networks – or facing signal loss – due to inability to access 4G infrastructure, spectrum reallocation, or rising congestion.”
While Nigeria struggles to make headway, China is setting the pace with staggering 5G adoption numbers. As of March 2025, the combined subscriber base of China’s three main operators — China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom — had reached nearly 1.05 billion.
China Mobile alone accounts for 578 million of these users, reflecting an 18.6% year-on-year growth. China Telecom recorded 266.2 million 5G network subscribers, while China Unicom posted 203.8 million. These figures exclude package subscribers who have 5G plans but do not yet use compatible devices.
Financially, China Mobile’s operating revenue remained steady at CNY222.4 billion ($2.6 billion), with a net profit increase of 3% to CNY30.6 billion. Meanwhile, China Telecom posted a similar profit margin growth, with net earnings of CNY8.9 billion on sales of CNY135.5 billion. However, average data consumption per user dipped slightly from 16.6GB to 16.1GB.
As other nations embrace 5G with increasing urgency, Nigeria’s performance on both infrastructure and access fronts suggests that a much more deliberate and expansive investment strategy may be required if it hopes to catch up in the global digital race.
