This explainer is for Nigerian business owners, web developers, IT managers and public institutions who depend on a local web host or a .ng domain registrar. It looks at why trust in parts of the market remains fragile, what the evidence shows, what sits behind the problems, and what customers, providers and regulators can do about it.

Key takeaways

• The .ng namespace is growing but remains small: about 249,897 domains were under management at the end of July 2026, far below the one million target NiRA set in 2019.
• Avoidable domain deletions have been eating into growth. For the first five months of 2026, deletions were equal to more than half of new growth.
• Only 15 of 164 accredited registrars (about 9%) had DNSSEC-enabled domain management in mid-2026, a weak point for security.
• Well-publicised failures, such as sites that stayed offline after customers renewed hosting in 2025, damage confidence in the whole local market.
• High energy costs, foreign-exchange pressure and thin margins make reliable hosting expensive to deliver in Nigeria.
• New data localisation rules mean more data must live in Nigeria, which raises the stakes for getting local hosting right.

What is going wrong in the market

Not every Nigerian host or registrar is failing. Several providers run solid services, and some have invested heavily in better infrastructure. But customers keep reporting the same pattern of problems, and those problems shape how the whole sector is seen.

Downtime and slow support

The most damaging complaints are about sites going offline and support teams going quiet. In August 2025, customers of the Nigerian host HostNowNow reported that websites stopped working after they renewed their hosting. One developer said two sites he managed stayed inaccessible despite repeated contact, and a media and IT firm said it eventually moved a client’s site to another provider and even changed the domain extension. The company acknowledged “internal operational issues”, explained that some processes had moved from automated systems to manual handling, and promised refunds and apologies. Later reports said some customers did receive refunds after the complaints became public.

The pattern is familiar. Developer accounts going back years describe support tickets left unanswered for days, slow page loads and unexplained outages. Those stories travel fast in Nigeria’s developer communities and push many technical buyers towards foreign providers by default.

Lapsed and deleted domains

NiRA’s own figures point to a retention problem. Its July 2026 Registrar Ecosystem Update recorded 5,646 deletions in July, the lowest monthly figure of the year. Even so, deletions equalled almost a third of growth that month, down from 42.7% in June and above 50% in each of the first five months of 2026. NiRA describes many of these losses as avoidable. In practice, a deleted domain often means a business forgot to renew, never received a reminder, or did not control the account its domain sat in.

Weak security basics

DNSSEC protects visitors from forged DNS answers that can redirect them to fake sites. NiRA has implemented DNSSEC at the registry level, but the same July 2026 update found that only 15 of 164 accredited registrars, about 9.15%, offered DNSSEC-enabled domain management. For a country where phishing and impersonation are daily problems, that is a large gap.

Slow growth of the national namespace

In 2019, NiRA set a goal of one million active .ng registrations within five years. By mid-2026 it reported about 241,000 active domains, rising to just under 250,000 by the end of July. Growth has picked up in 2026, but the namespace is still a fraction of the target, and many Nigerian businesses and institutions continue to use foreign extensions.

Why it matters

A website is now a shop front, a payment page and a customer service desk. When it goes down, the cost is immediate.

• Lost revenue and leads: visitors who find a dead page rarely come back.
• Reputation damage: customers blame the business, not the host.
• Search ranking losses: slow or frequently unavailable sites are harder for search engines to crawl and index.
• Security exposure: expired domains can be re-registered by others, and poorly maintained servers are easy targets.
• National capacity: every customer who gives up on local providers takes spending, jobs and skills offshore.

The money involved is not trivial. As far back as 2017, NiRA’s then president estimated that hosting .ng sites abroad cost Nigeria up to N60 billion a year in lost value, and a 2013 study by Gigalayer found that more than 90% of websites owned by Nigerians were hosted outside the country. Those figures are old, but they show how long the problem has persisted.

What sits behind the problems

Energy costs

Running servers around the clock needs constant power and cooling. Grid electricity now reflects full market tariffs, diesel is no longer subsidised, and self-generated diesel power is reported to cost between US$0.28 and US$0.33 per kWh. For many Nigerian data centre operators, energy is said to account for more than 35% of operating expenses. Smaller hosts that rent space or run their own racks feel these costs most, and cutting corners on power and cooling shows up as downtime.

Heat is a real risk even for large operators. On 8 October 2026, the NCC’s incident board linked a major MTN network disruption across parts of Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Delta and the FCT to high temperature at an MTN data centre. It is a reminder that resilient facilities need serious, well-maintained cooling and backup.

Foreign exchange and pricing pressure

Much of what hosts buy, from server hardware to software licences and international bandwidth, is priced in dollars. When the naira weakens, costs rise faster than providers can raise prices in a highly price-sensitive market. The result is often a race to the bottom: very cheap plans, overloaded shared servers and thin support teams.

Scale and skills

Many hosting firms are small businesses reselling capacity bought elsewhere. They may lack round-the-clock engineers, documented processes or automated billing and provisioning. The HostNowNow case showed how quickly service suffers when automated systems give way to manual work.

Low switching costs, low accountability

Customers who are unhappy often simply leave, frequently for a foreign provider, rather than complain formally. Without published uptime figures, independent reviews or clear service-level agreements, weak providers face little pressure to improve.

The case for change, and what is already moving

There are signs of progress. NiRA launched a new online Registrar Accreditation Platform in 2025 to make onboarding faster and more transparent, and 23 new registrars were accredited in 2024. It reports stronger retention in 2026, with combined new registrations and renewals of 17,810 in July, the highest monthly total of the year. NiRA has said it will push multi-year registrations, renewal reminders and wider use of second-level domains, and work with NITDA to make .ng and .gov.ng the preferred choice for institutions.

Regulation is also changing demand. NITDA’s data classification framework says sensitive data in finance, healthcare and government must be stored in Nigeria, and the CBN has directed that payment transaction data be stored locally by 1 January 2027. Investment is following: one market estimate cited by Nairametrics projects Nigeria’s data centre market to grow from about US$374 million in 2026 to about US$783 million in 2031.

That creates an opportunity and a test. If more regulated data has to stay at home, Nigerian hosting has to be dependable. A market where customers fear losing their site after renewal cannot carry that load.

What good looks like

• Published service levels: clear uptime commitments, support response times and compensation when they are missed.
• Customer ownership of domains: domains registered in the customer’s name, with the transfer code available without delay.
• Automated renewals and reminders: several expiry notices by email and SMS, and grace periods explained up front.
• Security by default: DNSSEC offered at every registrar, free TLS certificates, patched server software and two-factor authentication on control panels.
• Backups customers can download: regular, tested backups stored separately from the main server.
• Resilient power and cooling: redundant power, enough cooling capacity and honest status pages during incidents.

How to protect your business now

You do not need to wait for the industry to improve. Whether you use a local or foreign provider, these steps reduce your risk.

1. Confirm you own your domain. Log in to your registrar account and check that the registrant name and email are yours, not your web designer’s.
2. Turn on auto-renew and renew for several years. Add a calendar reminder 60 days before expiry as a backup.
3. Keep your own backups. Download a full copy of your site files and database at least monthly and store it away from the hosting server.
4. Use an independent uptime monitor. Free services can email you when your site goes down, so you are not relying on customers to tell you.
5. Ask for DNSSEC and two-factor authentication. If your registrar cannot offer them, consider one that can.
6. Document support contacts. Keep tickets, emails and payment receipts. They matter if you need a refund or escalate a dispute.
7. Have a migration plan. Know how to move your files, database and DNS records to another host quickly if service fails.
8. Check data rules. If you handle payment, health or government data, confirm where your provider stores it and whether that meets current localisation requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Should I avoid Nigerian hosting companies altogether?

No. Some local providers are reliable, and hosting close to your users can reduce latency and make naira payment easier. Judge each provider on service levels, support response, backups and reviews rather than on location alone.

What happens if my .ng domain expires?

An expired domain can be deleted and become available to anyone. Renew early, use auto-renew, and make sure renewal notices go to an email address you check.

What is DNSSEC and do I need it?

DNSSEC adds digital signatures to DNS records so visitors are not silently sent to a forged address. It is especially valuable for banks, fintechs, online shops and any brand that is often impersonated.

Where can I complain about a registrar?

Start with the registrar’s support channel and keep records. If a .ng registrar does not resolve the issue, you can raise it with NiRA, which accredits registrars for the .ng namespace.

Next steps

For businesses, spend thirty minutes this week checking domain ownership, renewal dates, backups and monitoring. For hosts and registrars, publish real service levels, automate renewals and switch on DNSSEC and two-factor authentication by default. For regulators and industry bodies, independent reporting of uptime and complaints would help good providers stand out. Nigerian hosting can earn the trust the data localisation era demands, but only if reliability becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Sources

• Techeconomy: .ng domain registrations near 250,000 (NiRA July 2026 update)
• Nairametrics: NiRA records 241,000 active .ng domains
• What happened to HostNowNow? What website owners should know
• Nairametrics: Nigeria's data centres, power and water
• Techpoint Africa: NITDA data classification framework and local hosting
• BusinessDay: Nigeria's local web hosting market

Featured image: Photo: "17° Server Room @ Work" by Leonardo Rizzi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Openverse — source

Nigerian motorists are being targeted by a text message scam that pretends to come from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The message says a traffic offence has been recorded against your vehicle and asks you to tap a link to “review” or pay the fine. The link leads to a convincing fake website. Victims who enter card or bank details have reported losing hundreds of thousands, and in at least one case more than a million, naira.

The FRSC has publicly disowned the messages and called the website fraudulent. An investigation published by Public Enquirer on 16 October 2026 shows the scheme is still active, run on a network of look-alike domains that keep reappearing after takedowns.

How the fake FRSC fine scam works

The scam follows a familiar “smishing” (SMS phishing) pattern, but it has been polished to look official:

1. The text. You receive an SMS from an ordinary phone number saying a new traffic offence has been logged and needs your attention. It includes a link.
2. The fake portal. The link opens a page titled something like “Road Traffic Offences” that asks for your plate number. Whatever you type, it returns a “Pending Fines” screen.
3. The pressure. The page quotes the real FRSC Establishment Act, shows a violation code and offers to halve the fine if you pay within a short window. The legal language and deadline are there to rush you.
4. The theft. You are sent to a payment page and asked for card or account details. The “fine” is small, but what the criminals actually take is much larger.

Two public figures shared their experiences. Actress Eva Ibiam reported a single debit of about ₦364,574 to an unfamiliar foreign merchant, with a one-time password arriving minutes afterwards, a sign the fraudsters were using her details in real time. Comedian MC Monica reported a card charge of about ₦1.85 million to another unknown merchant, and received a second lure from a different web address within hours.

Why these fake sites keep coming back

Public Enquirer traced the operation to a cluster of cheap web addresses designed to look like government sites, including frscgov.top, which the FRSC itself flagged in September, and variants using endings such as .sbs and .cam. One fake domain was set up and hosted within about 82 seconds, which suggests the process is automated. The same infrastructure was also linked to a fake parking-payment site aimed at drivers in Poland, so this is an organised, international operation, not a lone fraudster.

Investigators also found a separate fake FRSC login page that collects email addresses and passwords. Only a handful of the domains have been permanently removed; others moved to new hosting and returned. That means you cannot rely on a site being blocked. You need to recognise the trick yourself.

Warning signs to look for

• The message comes from a regular mobile number rather than an official sender.
• The link does not point to frsc.gov.ng. Look-alikes such as “frscgov”, “frsc-gov” or unusual endings like .top, .sbs, .cam or .cc are red flags.
• It offers a discount for paying fast or threatens extra penalties if you delay.
• It asks for your full card number, expiry date, CVV, PIN or online banking password.
• You receive an OTP you did not request just after visiting the page.

How to check a traffic fine safely

The FRSC says alleged offences should be verified only through its official channels, not through links in unsolicited messages. Its official website is frsc.gov.ng, and its national toll-free line is 122. Type the web address yourself instead of tapping a link, or call the line and ask whether your plate number has any record against it.

The FRSC has also advised motorists not to share banking details, passwords, card details, driver’s licence or vehicle registration information in response to such messages, to keep the messages as evidence, and to stop engaging with the sender.

What you should do

• Do not tap links in texts about traffic fines, licence renewals or vehicle papers. Go to frsc.gov.ng directly or call 122.
• Never enter card details or OTPs on a page you reached from an SMS link.
• If you already paid, call your bank immediately using the number on the back of your card, ask them to block the card and dispute the transaction. Speed matters, because these debits can happen within minutes.
• Change any password you typed into a fake FRSC login page, and change it anywhere else you reuse it.
• Turn on transaction alerts and set daily card spending limits in your banking app, especially for online and foreign transactions.
• Keep the SMS as evidence and report it to your bank and to the FRSC.
• Warn family, drivers and staff, particularly anyone who manages company vehicles, because fleet managers are natural targets for this kind of message.

Sources

• Public Enquirer: How scammers built, deployed a fake version of Nigeria's traffic agency
• TheCable: FRSC disowns viral traffic violation messages, warns motorists against fake website
• Leadership: FRSC Warns Motorists Against Fake Traffic Offence SMS, Website

Artificial intelligence is already working inside many of the organisations that run Nigeria’s phone and internet services, but the rules for managing it have not kept up. That is the headline finding of a survey presented by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at its Internet Governance Symposium 2026 in Lagos, reported by BusinessDay on 15 October.

The survey is a useful snapshot of where Nigeria’s digital sector stands on AI, and it carries lessons for any business, large or small, that is adding AI tools to its operations.

What the survey found

The NCC polled 47 organisations drawn from industry, academia, research and civil society, including mobile network operators, internet service providers and members of the technical community. Among the key results:

• 73% of surveyed licensees said they were using or piloting AI in live operations.
• 27% said they had no governance arrangements for their AI systems.
• 94% supported telling consumers when they are interacting with AI.
• Three in five organisations had not taken part in internet governance processes, and 40% had not attended any internet governance event.
• 53% reported involvement with the Nigerian Internet Governance Forum.
• 46 of the 47 organisations said they were willing to join future consultations and workshops.

Respondents named cybersecurity, online safety, child online protection, data protection and AI governance as their priority concerns.

It is worth reading the numbers carefully. A sample of 47 organisations does not establish how widely AI is governed across the entire telecom industry, and the survey did not specify which AI applications respondents were using. Still, the direction is clear: adoption is moving faster than oversight.

What the NCC plans to do

According to BusinessDay, the Commission intends to clarify how AI systems are defined and what prior-notification requirements apply under its Internet Code of Practice 2026. It also plans to publish implementation guidelines, frequently asked questions and compliance templates, and to run workshops for licensees. No timetable for the AI guidance has been announced.

The strong support for AI disclosure stands out. If nearly all respondents back informing customers when they are dealing with AI, Nigerians may soon see clearer labelling on chatbots, automated customer service lines and other AI-driven interactions with their network providers.

Why this matters beyond telecoms

The gap the NCC found is not unique to telecoms. Many businesses adopt AI tools one at a time: a chatbot on the website, an AI writing assistant for staff, automated fraud scoring or call summarisation. Each feels small, but together they can touch customer data, make decisions that affect people, and create new security risks.

Without governance, common problems include:

• Staff pasting customer or financial data into public AI tools without approval.
• No clear owner when an AI system gives a wrong or harmful answer to a customer.
• AI tools connected to email, files or payment systems with more access than they need.
• Customers not knowing they are talking to a machine, which damages trust when it goes wrong.

Nigeria’s data protection rules already apply to personal data processed by AI systems, so poor oversight is a compliance risk as well as a reputational one.

A simple AI governance starter for organisations

Governance does not have to mean a thick policy manual. Smaller organisations can start with a handful of practical steps:

1. List your AI tools. Write down every AI system in use, who uses it, and what data it can see.
2. Assign an owner. Make one named person responsible for each tool, including what happens when it fails.
3. Set data rules. Decide which information staff may never share with AI tools, such as BVNs, NINs, card details, passwords and customer records.
4. Keep a human in the loop. Require human review for decisions that affect customers’ money, accounts or rights.
5. Tell customers. Label chatbots and automated services clearly, and give people an easy way to reach a person.
6. Review regularly. Revisit the list every quarter as tools and regulations change.

What you should do

• Businesses: take an inventory of the AI tools your staff use this month and set basic data-sharing rules before adding more.
• Telecom and internet licensees: watch for the NCC’s forthcoming guidance under the Internet Code of Practice 2026 and take part in its consultations.
• Consumers: when a chatbot or automated line handles your account, never share one-time passwords or PINs, and ask to speak to a human for anything involving money or SIM changes.

The survey shows an industry willing to engage. The next step is turning that willingness into clear, practical rules before AI problems turn into customer harm.

Sources

• AI adoption is outpacing governance in Nigeria’s telecom sector, NCC survey shows – BusinessDay
• The Nigeria Brief, Thursday 15 October 2026

Featured image: Photo: “Telecom Tower” by Steve Parker, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse — source

After a slow first half, money is flowing back into African technology companies. According to figures published by TechCabal on 15 October 2026, African startups raised $2.49 billion across 315 disclosed deals in the first nine months of the year. That is about 7.8% more than the $2.30 billion raised over the same period in 2025, even though the number of deals fell from 403.

The third quarter did most of the work. Between July and September, startups raised $1.025 billion across 167 deals, up from $785 million across 149 deals in the third quarter of 2025. Larger growth rounds and a busier deal pipeline drove the rebound.

Fewer deals, bigger cheques

The headline pattern is that investors are writing larger cheques to fewer companies. Total funding is up while deal count is down, which suggests capital is concentrating in businesses that can show real revenue, physical assets or clear paths to profitability.

September alone showed where investor appetite sits. Large rounds went to energy infrastructure, mobility and digital payments. Among the deals TechCabal highlighted:

• Odyssey Energy Solutions (Nigeria) secured $74 million in combined capital: a $47 million debt facility and $27 million in equity.
• Bluecore Energy (Ghana) raised a $50 million seed round to develop maritime nuclear technology.
• Paymob (Egypt) raised $35 million in a pre-Series C round.
• ARC Ride (Kenya) closed $33.3 million, mixing $23.3 million in equity with $10 million in debt, for its electric motorcycle battery-swapping network.
• Mission Mobile (South Africa) raised $30.7 million for device-financing infrastructure.
• Synapse Analytics (Egypt) raised a $13 million Series A.

Several of these rounds include debt rather than pure equity. That is a meaningful shift: lenders want predictable cash flow, so debt-heavy rounds tend to favour companies with hardware, contracts or recurring revenue, such as solar, e-mobility and device financing.

Nigeria leads the country rankings

Nigeria remains the continent’s top funding destination so far in 2026, with $624 million raised in the first nine months. Egypt ranks second with $396 million, followed by Benin with $345 million, Kenya with $297 million and South Africa with $279 million.

For Nigeria’s ecosystem, the figure is a welcome sign of confidence after several difficult years marked by currency pressure and a funding slowdown. It also shows that energy and payments businesses, two sectors where Nigerian demand is huge, continue to attract serious capital.

Fund managers are restocking

Beyond startups, the investors who back them are also raising money. TechCabal reports that limited partners committed over $1.7 billion to African fund managers in the first half of 2026, and another $1.23 billion in the third quarter, bringing the total to about $3.08 billion between January and September.

Notable fund closes in the quarter included Ninety One’s Africa Credit Opportunities Fund 3 at $404 million, Airnergize Capital’s Clean Energy Fund at $239 million, a second close of $84 million for Ventures Platform’s Pan-African Fund II, and a $76 million first close for CardinalStone Capital Advisers’ West Africa SME growth fund. Much of this new money targets private credit, climate technology and early-stage equity.

That fresh “dry powder” sets up a potentially strong finish to 2026, but it will not be handed out on the old terms.

What it means for founders and SMEs

The data points to a funding market that rewards discipline. For founders and growing small businesses, a few lessons stand out:

1. Show your unit economics. Investors are backing companies that can prove each customer or asset makes money. Know your customer acquisition cost, margins and payback period.
2. Consider debt where it fits. If your business has steady revenue or physical assets, venture debt and asset financing may be more available than equity. Understand the repayment terms before you sign.
3. Look at SME-focused funds. New vehicles such as West Africa SME growth funds are aimed at established small and mid-sized firms, not just tech startups.
4. Get your records in order. Clean books, audited accounts and good data protection practices make due diligence faster and build investor trust.
5. Protect your systems. Larger rounds attract attention from fraudsters too. Strong email security and payment verification procedures help ensure investment funds land where they should.

What you should do

• Founders: review your fundraising plan against current investor priorities and prepare clear financial metrics before approaching funds.
• SME owners: research credit and growth funds targeting your region and sector; equity is not the only route to capital.
• Everyone: be wary of anyone promising guaranteed investment or “fast-track” funding in exchange for upfront fees; real investors do not charge you to apply.

The numbers show African tech is far from out of favour. The capital is there, but it is going to companies that can prove they will last.

Sources

• African startups raise $2.49B in 9 months as Q3 rebounds – TechCabal

Featured image: Photo: "Lagos skyline" by Una_Clara, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Openverse — source

Nigeria’s appetite for data is growing fast. According to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) industry statistics reported by TechCabal on 13 October 2026, Nigerians consumed 11.94 million terabytes of internet data in the first eight months of 2026, roughly 90% of the total for the whole of 2025. With four months still to go, this year’s usage is on track to clearly exceed last year’s.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this is more than a telecoms statistic. It signals where customers are, how they want to be served, and what kind of connectivity a modern business needs.

What the numbers show

• Monthly usage is climbing. Consumption was lowest in February at 1.26 million terabytes, rose to about 1.4 million in March, passed 1.5 million in June and reached 1.76 million terabytes in August.
• More connections. Roughly 800,000 new internet subscriptions were added in August alone, according to an industry expert citing NCC figures.
• Faster networks. 4G’s share of mobile subscriptions rose to 54.77% in August, and 5G to 4.92%, together about 60% of mobile subscriptions.
• Broadband reach. THISDAY, citing NCC data, reported broadband penetration of 57.40% in July 2026, up from 48.81% in August 2025.
• Economic weight. The same NCC figures put the telecoms sector’s contribution to GDP at 9.72% in the second quarter of 2026.

Total telecom subscriptions reached 197.42 million in August. MTN recorded 84.56 million internet subscriptions, followed by Airtel with 56.94 million and Globacom with 15.76 million. Note that subscriptions count connections, not unique people, since many Nigerians carry more than one SIM.

What is driving the growth

Industry analysts point to two forces. First, more people are getting connected. Second, existing users are doing more data-heavy things: streaming video on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Netflix, alongside online banking, digital payments, cloud services, remote work tools, online learning and AI applications. These are informed assessments rather than a measured breakdown of traffic, but they match what most businesses see among their own customers.

A new policy may add to demand. On 1 October 2026, the NCC introduced zero-rated access to designated educational platforms, giving eligible users up to 100MB of free daily data for learning.

What it means for small businesses

Your customers are online, and on video

Rising data use, driven heavily by video, means customers are increasingly discovering, comparing and buying through their phones. Short product videos, WhatsApp catalogues and mobile-friendly websites are no longer extras. At the same time, many users still watch their data budgets, so keep pages light and images compressed.

Networks will be under pressure

More traffic means more strain on operators’ capacity. Experts say sustained investment in fibre, network capacity and spectrum will be needed to maintain quality. Until that catches up, businesses that depend on the internet for payments, cloud accounting or customer service should plan for slowdowns and outages.

Data costs belong in your budget

If your team relies on mobile data for work, consumption is likely rising for you too. Treat connectivity as a core operating cost and review it regularly.

Practical steps for SMEs

1. Measure your usage. Check how much data your office or devices use each month and which applications consume the most.
2. Build in redundancy. Keep a backup connection from a different provider, such as a 4G/5G router alongside fibre, so POS terminals and payment systems keep working during outages.
3. Consider fibre where available. For offices with several staff, a fixed fibre line is often more reliable and better value than multiple mobile data bundles.
4. Control background usage. Schedule large software updates and cloud backups outside business hours, and turn off video autoplay on work devices.
5. Optimise for mobile customers. Test your website and online store on a basic smartphone over a mobile connection, and cut anything slow or heavy.
6. Secure what you connect. More online activity means more exposure. Use strong router passwords, update devices and enable two-step verification on business accounts.

The bigger picture

Nigeria’s data growth reflects an economy that is steadily moving online. For SMEs, the opportunity is clear: customers are reachable, digital payments are routine and cloud tools are affordable. The businesses that benefit most will be those that treat connectivity as essential infrastructure, plan for its weaknesses, and design their services for a mobile-first market.

Sources

• Nigerians used 90% of 2025's internet data volume in eight months – TechCabal
• Broadband Penetration Maintains Steady Growth as Telecoms Contribution to GDP Increases – THISDAY
• Nigeria's internet data usage jumps to 1.66m terabytes in July – Techeconomy

Featured image: Photo: "Fiber Optic cable upgrade" by Wesley Fryer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Openverse — source

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has begun an enhanced verification exercise for phones, tablets and other SIM-enabled devices used on Nigerian mobile networks. The aim, according to the regulator, is to keep fake, cloned, substandard and stolen devices off the networks and to make sure equipment sold in Nigeria meets technical standards.

The exercise was explained at a media briefing in Abuja on 13 October 2026, a few days after some subscribers started receiving SMS alerts from a sender called “NCC-Checker” saying their device was not verified. If you or your staff received one of these messages, here is what it means and what to do.

What the NCC is doing

The checks run under what the NCC calls its enhanced Type Approval compliance framework, which builds on the Type Approval Business Rules it issued in August 2024. Type Approval is the NCC’s confirmation that a particular device model meets Nigerian technical requirements.

Each phone has a unique 15-digit identifier called an IMEI. According to TechAfrica News, the NCC’s Device Management System checks a device’s IMEI against a central equipment register to see whether the model is type approved. The NCC has worked with the Nigeria Customs Service, manufacturers, importers and market associations so that devices already in stock can be onboarded and future imports can be verified before they reach shops.

At the briefing, the NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity said about 231 million existing devices had been registered automatically and that subscribers whose devices were already on the networks did not need to take any action, Nairametrics reported. He also stressed that the system is not a surveillance tool: the NCC says it keeps device identification data such as IMEI numbers, but does not access the contents of users’ phones or their personal communications.

What the “not verified” alerts say

From 10 October 2026, some users of iPhones, Google Pixels, Tecno, Infinix and other brands reported receiving alerts saying their device was not verified and could lose network access after 30 days. TechAfrica News explains that the countdown counts only days when the device is actively used on a Nigerian network, not 30 calendar days in a row.

Many of the devices being flagged appear to be imported or grey-market phones, meaning genuine models bought abroad or from sellers who never submitted them for Nigerian approval. Commentators have pointed out that the system does not yet publicly separate these legitimate imports from counterfeit or cloned phones, and that the steps for registering a phone bought overseas have not been clearly published. Unofficial figures for registration fees are circulating on social media, but they have not been confirmed by the NCC, so do not rely on them.

How to check your device

1. Find your IMEI. Dial *#06# on the phone. The IMEI appears on screen. Note it down or take a screenshot.
2. Run the NCC check. Dial *315# from the phone and choose the device check option. Nairametrics also mentions an NCC Device Checker portal.
3. Read the result. A verified device returns a confirmation that it is type approved and verified for use on Nigerian networks.
4. Keep evidence. If you get a warning, screenshot it along with your receipt or proof of purchase.

If your phone is flagged

• Bought locally? Go back to the seller. The NCC advises asking for a replacement if a device you bought turns out not to be verified.
• Bought abroad? The NCC has indicated that a registration route exists for devices bought overseas. Watch the NCC’s official website and social media channels for published instructions and fees.
• Still unresolved? Call the NCC’s toll-free 315 consumer helpline.

Watch out for scammers using this news

Any change that worries large numbers of people is an opportunity for fraudsters. Expect fake “phone unblocking” agents, look-alike messages and social media posts offering to verify your phone for a fee. The NCC’s check is done by dialling *315# from your own phone; you should not need to send money or your personal details to anyone who contacts you first.

What businesses should do

For companies that issue phones to staff or run POS terminals and other SIM-enabled devices, a lost connection can stop sales or field work. Treat this as a small asset audit:

• List every SIM-enabled device your business owns, with its IMEI and where it was bought.
• Run the *315# check on each one and record the result.
• Raise any flagged devices with the supplier now, while the 30-day window is still open.
• Before buying new devices, ask the seller to confirm in writing that the model has NCC Type Approval.

What you should do

1. Dial *315# today to check your phone, and *#06# to note your IMEI.
2. If you received an alert, contact your seller first, then the 315 helpline.
3. Ignore anyone who calls or messages offering paid “unblocking”.
4. Before buying any phone, ask whether it is NCC type approved, and keep your receipt.

Sources

• allAfrica: NCC Moves to Block Fake, Cloned Devices From Nigerian Networks
• Nairametrics: NCC registers 231 million telecom devices as Nigeria begins phone verification
• TechAfrica News: Nigeria’s Phone Crackdown

Featured image: Photo: “he was waiting his parents to stop looking at a smartphone shop” by giacomo.gasperini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Openverse — source

When a customer in Lagos opens your website, or a staff member in Abuja sends a file to a colleague in Port Harcourt, where does that data actually travel? The answer is often surprising. Depending on how networks are connected and where content is hosted, traffic between two points in the same country can travel out to servers abroad and back again. That adds delay, depends on international links, and can add cost for the network operators that carry it.

Keeping more of that traffic local is the central theme of the 2026 Nigerian Peering and Interconnection Forum (ngPIF), scheduled to hold in Lagos on 28 and 29 October 2026. The forum is organised by the Nigerian Network Operators Group (ngNOG) together with the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission, and brings together telecom operators, internet service providers, data centre companies, regulators and technology firms.

This might sound like a conversation for network engineers only, but the outcome affects every business that depends on the internet. Here is a plain-language guide.

Peering and IXPs in plain language

Peering is an arrangement in which two networks exchange traffic directly with each other, rather than paying a third party to carry it. An internet exchange point (IXP) is shared infrastructure where many networks connect so they can exchange traffic in one place.

When your internet provider and the network hosting a website you visit both connect at a local IXP, the traffic between them can stay in the country. Where networks have the right connections and commercial arrangements, keeping eligible traffic local can reduce reliance on international transit, lower latency (the delay you feel when a page loads or a call connects) and improve resilience if an international link has problems.

Speaking ahead of the forum, ngNOG’s convenor argued that Nigeria needs to pay closer attention to the infrastructure and interconnection arrangements behind its growing digital economy, and that no single player can solve the challenge alone. The priorities he outlined include keeping more traffic local, strengthening peering, developing local data centres and content hosting, and improving cooperation between operators, content providers, regulators and IXPs.

What local routing can and cannot do

It is worth being realistic. The benefits of peering depend on how much traffic is genuinely local, the capacity of domestic infrastructure, where content is hosted and the commercial deals between networks. Organisers have also been clear that local traffic exchange alone cannot guarantee cheaper retail internet, because data prices also reflect spectrum costs, energy, equipment, taxes, competition and other operating expenses.

Local interconnection also does not replace international connectivity. Businesses will still need reliable international links to reach overseas websites, global cloud platforms and services hosted abroad. The goal is a better balance, not isolation.

Why this matters for your business

• Speed for local customers: if most of your customers are in Nigeria, content served from within the country can load faster for them.
• Better real-time services: voice calls, video meetings, POS transactions and online payments are sensitive to delay and interruptions.
• Resilience: traffic that stays local is less exposed to problems on international routes, such as damage to undersea cables.
• Data location: keeping data in-country can help businesses that must meet data protection or sector requirements about where information is stored, though you should always check the specific rules that apply to you.

Practical steps SMEs can take now

1. Ask your ISP about peering. When choosing or renewing an internet service, ask whether the provider connects to IXPN or other local exchange points. A provider that peers locally is likely to give better performance for local services.
2. Think about where your website is hosted. If your audience is mainly in Nigeria, compare local or regional hosting with overseas hosting. Measure load times from a local connection before deciding.
3. Use a content delivery network (CDN). Many CDNs have servers in or near African markets and can cache your website closer to your customers, even if the main site is hosted abroad.
4. Check where your cloud services run. For cloud platforms and SaaS tools, look at which regions are available. Choosing the nearest suitable region can improve speed and may help with data location requirements.
5. Build in redundancy. For critical operations, keep a second internet connection from a different provider, ideally using a different type of link such as fibre plus 4G or 5G, so one outage does not stop the business.
6. Test before you commit. Run speed and latency tests at different times of day on any connection you are considering, and ask current customers about reliability.
7. Keep an eye on the forum’s outcomes. Announcements from ngPIF, IXPN and the NCC can signal new local data centres, peering arrangements or hosting options worth considering.

The bigger picture

As more of Nigeria’s commerce, banking, government services and entertainment move online, the infrastructure behind the screen becomes a competitive issue. Faster, more resilient local connectivity supports everything from mobile payments to cloud accounting. For small businesses, the lesson is simple: ask where your data travels, choose providers and hosts that keep local traffic local where it makes sense, and never depend on a single connection.

Sources

• The Sun: Stakeholders seek cheaper, faster internet through local routing

Featured image: Photo: “Data Centres” by GDS Infographics, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse — source