Nigeria’s biggest telecom operators are staring down a potentially significant revenue gap after the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) approved five new third-party lenders to fill the space that MTN and Airtel have been forced to vacate.
The move is the latest development in a fast-moving regulatory standoff that has disrupted one of the telecoms sector’s most profitable service lines.
How the Lending Business Got Here
Airtime and data lending quietly became a cornerstone of telco fintech revenue. In the first nine months of 2025, MTN Nigeria’s fintech arm generated ₦131.62 billion in revenue, a 72.5% year-on-year surge, with Xtratime as the primary driver. Core fintech operations excluding airtime lending yielded just ₦6.8 billion over the same period, meaning the service was a core part of the telecommunications machine.
Airtel Nigeria reported earnings of approximately $36 million from its Buy Now, Pay Later airtime services between 2021 and 2025, reflecting roughly 70% year-over-year growth.
The Regulation That Changed the Rules
The suspension follows the FCCPC’s introduction of the Digital, Electronic, Online or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations (DEON) in July 2025. The framework requires all digital lenders, including telecom operators offering airtime advances, to register with the commission and meet stricter consumer protection and transparency standards.
Affected operators were initially given a 90-day compliance window, later extended to January 5, 2026, yet they failed to meet the necessary compliance steps. MTN subsequently announced a temporary suspension of Xtratime in an NGX filing, and Airtel followed within 24 hours.
The FCCPC has denied issuing a ban, placing responsibility squarely on the operators for missing repeated deadlines.
New Players Step In
The FCCPC has now approved five firms to provide airtime and data advance services: Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Medien CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited. The regulator confirmed that all five met the requirements stipulated under DEON.
The telcos are not entirely shut out of the economics. The airtime to be sold by the approved lenders will still come from MTN, Airtel, and Glo, so they retain a wholesale role. But the direct lending margin, which drove the bulk of fintech earnings, now moves to the new operators.
What Comes Next
The longer the suspension holds, the more pressure builds on telco earnings, particularly for MTN, where Xtratime was not a minor line item but the dominant driver of a ₦131 billion fintech segment. MTN’s core fintech revenue excluding Xtratime grew 142.86% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2025, suggesting there is a growth story elsewhere in its fintech portfolio.
The court ruling on April 27 could shift the picture significantly. If WASPA wins a longer injunction, the compliance timeline gets murkier. If the court sides with the FCCPC, telcos will need to accelerate their licensing applications or formally cede the lending business to the newly approved operators. Either way, a revenue line that grew quietly into a multi-billion-naira segment is now at the centre of one of Nigeria’s most consequential fintech regulatory disputes.
