9Mobile requires $3bn for growth, resuscitation, says CEO 

Joy Agwunobi

9mobile, Nigeria’s fourth-largest telecom carrier, will have to invest at least $3 billion to revamp its entire network infrastructure if it hopes to maintain competitive edge and deliver superior customer experiences.

CEO Obafemi Banigbe made this clear in a recent Zoom call, where he outlined the company’s plans for network modernization and improving end user experience.

Banigbe stated that 9mobile, originally launched as an Etisalat brand, has been starved of critical investment for over a decade, resulting in significant network degradation and loss of subscribers.

This chronic underinvestment has severely hampered the telco’s ability to provide quality services and compete effectively in the Nigerian telecom market.

Banigbe outlined a four-phase strategy to guide 9mobile through its ongoing revitalization efforts. These phases, according to the CEO, include stabilisation, modernisation, transformation, and growth.

9mobile’s current investors, Banigbe emphasised, are driven by a deep-seated belief in the vast potential of the Nigerian digital market, particularly the untapped opportunities presented by the country’s young and growing population.

Banigbe was adamant that 9mobile’s previous shortcomings were a result of network degradation, an issue he vowed to resolve through a concerted effort involving both substantial investment in new infrastructure and strategic partnerships for infrastructure sharing.

He expressed confidence that these measures would lead to a marked improvement in service quality and customer experience, paving the way for the company to regain lost ground and attract new subscribers.

The 9Mobile CEO highlighted the inefficiencies of individual telecom operators excavating their own fibre optic cables, stating that the cost of digging trenches alone consumes approximately 70 percent of the total project budget.

He instead advocated for collaboration among all operators to pool resources and share infrastructure, which would drastically reduce the overall cost of deploying fiber optic networks and free up funds for other critical investments.