MTN Nigeria has credited its marketing and communications strategy as central to its transformation from the country’s largest telecoms operator into a ₦3.4 trillion revenue technology company with more than 80 million customers.
The company’s leadership in this space was spotlighted at the 2025 Edge Awards, where MTN was named Brand of the Year and three senior executives received top individual honours.
Chief Marketing Officer, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, was awarded Brand Personality of the Year; Funso Aina, Senior Manager, External Relations, was recognised as Outstanding Public Relations and Corporate Communications Personality of the Decade; while Public Relations Manager, Lakinbofa Goodluck, received the title of Outstanding Public Relations Personality of the Decade.
The recognition comes as MTN Nigeria delivered resilient H1 2025 results, with ₦2.4 trillion service revenue and ₦83.2 billion profit after tax. Data revenue rose 8.6 per cent year-on-year, supported by 44.6 million active data users, while fintech revenue surged 21.4 per cent to serve 4.8 million customers.
Ikenna-Emeka has been instrumental in building MTN’s fixed broadband business, now with more than three million subscribers.
Aina has led MTN’s external relations since 2009, shaping its engagement with regulators and policymakers, while Goodluck has spearheaded campaigns linking the company’s reputation to its social investments and market leadership.
Beyond financials, MTN has deepened its people strategy, with 374 employees benefitting from leadership programmes in 2024 and near gender parity achieved in executive management (47 per cent women, 53 per cent men).
For investors and industry observers, MTN Nigeria’s performance and recognition underscore a shift: marketing and communications are no longer support functions but front-line drivers of growth, resilience, and long-term value creation as the company accelerates its 5G, fibre broadband, fintech, and cloud ambitions.
