Local content must meet world-class standards-MTN CFO

Nigerian businesses must move beyond policy protection and local patronage to build world-class capacity, governance, technology and delivery standards if they are to become globally competitive, Chief Financial Officer of MTN Nigeria, Modupe Kadri, has said.

Kadri made the call at the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC) breakfast forum on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, where business leaders examined the role of corporate investment in developing indigenous enterprises under the theme, “Building Local Content Together: 25 Years of Shared Growth.”

He said Nigeria’s local-content agenda should evolve from simply increasing domestic procurement to building companies capable of competing across Africa and global markets.

“Local content must not mean substandard quality, nor should it mean entitlement simply because a company is Nigerian,” Kadri said.

He argued that genuine local content must be measured by the capabilities created after a contract is delivered, including stronger businesses, improved governance, greater technical skills, better systems, technology adoption and the ability to win customers beyond a single multinational company.

Kadri said predictable demand from large corporations could help Nigerian suppliers scale, but local businesses must also invest in quality, governance, technology, skilled personnel and delivery discipline.

He described this as the conversion of corporate spending into productive capacity, with stronger suppliers eventually generating more jobs, investment and wealth.

“Shared growth is not charity; it is not public relations; it is invited business logic that happens when value circulates through businesses, communities, and governments,” he said.

The MTN CFO said the next frontier of local content would require far greater technical depth than the traditional focus on civil works, logistics, distribution and operational support.

He identified artificial intelligence, cloud computing, data centres, cybersecurity, fintech, fibre, 5G, digital content and intellectual property as critical areas in which Nigeria must develop indigenous capabilities.

Kadri challenged Nigerian businesses and policymakers to consider whether the country would remain primarily a consumer of imported technology or develop companies capable of producing technology and exporting solutions across Africa.

The scale of MTN’s own procurement provides an indication of the economic opportunity.

MTN Nigeria spent more than N2.7 trillion with Nigerian suppliers in 2025, while the share of procurement sourced locally increased from 59.6 per cent in 2024 to 62 per cent in 2025. The remaining 38 per cent represents categories where local production capacity has yet to reach the required scale.

The company said the remaining gap should be viewed as an opportunity for Nigerian businesses to develop capacity in specialised areas currently dominated by foreign suppliers.

As of June 30, 2026, MTN had 92.2 million subscriber connections, 55.7 million active data users and more than 43,000 kilometres of fibre, while its direct and indirect ecosystem extended to about 2 million Nigerian touchpoints.

The company also disclosed that it had made more than N7 trillion in taxes and statutory payments since inception, invested over N1 trillion in digital infrastructure in 2025, maintained a workforce that is more than 99 per cent Nigerian, and had 346,000 shareholders as of June 2026.

Kadri said these figures demonstrate that the economic impact of a major corporate investment extends well beyond the company’s financial results, into suppliers, employees, infrastructure, government revenues and local ownership.

He also cited examples of Nigerian businesses that have expanded through long-term commercial relationships, while cautioning that their success ultimately reflects their own entrepreneurship, investment and discipline.

The NSACC session featured Afolabi Sobande, Group Chief Operating Officer of Computer Warehouse Group; Udeme Ufot, Group Managing Director of SO&U; Yemi Chukwurah, Chief Executive Officer of Seams and Stitches; and Ayeni Adekunle, Chief Executive Officer of BlackHouse Media.

The panellists discussed how sustained commercial opportunities, corporate procurement and capability development helped their businesses evolve from smaller operations into companies with broader market reach.

Kadri said large corporations must create credible pathways for local businesses to gain market access, knowledge and scale, while indigenous enterprises must respond by strengthening their governance, quality, innovation and technology.

He stressed that the goal should not be to protect Nigerian companies from international competition but to make them capable of competing successfully anywhere in the world.

The message gains added importance as Nigeria seeks to deepen local participation in increasingly technology-driven sectors.

Kadri said local content in the next 25 years must therefore focus not only on who supplies infrastructure, but on who owns the knowledge, technology and intellectual property behind that infrastructure.

The broader economic opportunity is substantial. Higher local procurement can retain more value within Nigeria, while stronger domestic suppliers can create employment, develop technical skills and eventually become exporters of goods, services and technology.

For Nigeria, the challenge is to turn local content from a procurement percentage into an industrial strategy that produces globally competitive companies.

The N2.7 trillion MTN spent with Nigerian suppliers in 2025 and the 62 per cent local procurement share provide a clear measure of progress — but also expose the scale of the opportunity still available in the remaining 38 per cent.

The next phase, Kadri argued, should be about building Nigerian companies that do not merely win contracts in Nigeria, but can compete and scale across Africa and beyond.