Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is spending over $350 million annually to fuel diesel-powered generators amid chronic power shortages, a new report reveals.
According to the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025 by the Africa Finance Corporation, telecom operators in Nigeria consume more than 40 million litres of diesel every month, highlighting the crushing operational costs associated with powering mobile networks, especially in rural areas.
“A growing number of tower sites going off-grid or relying on diesel generators is a cause of concern,” the report stated. “It increases CAPEX and OPEX costs for operators, making investments in rural and remote areas even more prohibitive.”
The report also cited data from GSMA Intelligence, which estimates that energy costs for rural base stations can be 37% higher than in urban areas. Moreover, powering data traffic in Africa demands 0.24 kWh per GB, compared to the global average of 0.17 kWh, partly due to the continued use of energy-inefficient technologies like 3G.
Operators are not only battling high fuel costs but also frequent theft of diesel and battery equipment from off-grid sites.
Nigeria’s broader energy landscape adds to the problem. “Unreliable public supply has pushed millions of households and firms to rely on petrol and diesel generators,” the report noted, underscoring the country’s ongoing energy crisis.
Speaking on the way forward, Harmanpreet Dhillon, Chief Technical Officer of Airtel Nigeria, said the company is focused on expanding grid connectivity and switching to alternative energy. “Our first goal is to connect all of our sites to the grid… Once we achieve this, we’ll reduce our reliance on generators, which in turn will cut down our diesel consumption.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria is pursuing a more modern digital infrastructure. The report stated that the country plans to roll out an additional 90,000km of fibre through a public-private partnership, expanding on its existing 35,000km backbone to support broadband growth.
Still, the challenges remain daunting. As Femi Adeniran, Airtel’s Director of Corporate Communications, noted last year, the company alone spent N28 billion monthly on diesel—equivalent to roughly $25 million, underlining the sector’s heavy financial burden.
With the country’s tech and telecom ambitions growing, operators are being pushed to seek sustainable and cost-effective energy solutions to align with global climate goals and keep mobile broadband affordable.
