Airtel Nigeria has, within the space of a year, deployed 200 solar-powered telecommunications towers across rural and urban communities. This comes as network operators increasingly seek alternatives to rising diesel costs and unreliable electricity supply.
The rollout, which took place between April 2025 and March 2026, forms part of the company’s strategy to reduce dependence on diesel-powered infrastructure as it expands network coverage and capacity.
According to Airtel Africa’s 2025/26 annual report, the solar-powered “lean sites” in Nigeria improved network uptime by 21% and reduced monthly maintenance costs by 90% per cent.
The company added that the sites have also lowered carbon emissions compared to conventional diesel-powered towers.
The investment comes as telecom operators grapple with persistent power challenges. Diesel prices have climbed to between ₦2,400 ($1.60) and ₦2,900 ($1.93) per litre, significantly increasing the cost of running telecommunications infrastructure.
Nigeria has also recorded more than 110 grid collapses and major power disruptions since 2015, with unreliable electricity estimated to cost the economy about ₦38 trillion ($25.4 billion)annually.
Airtel said the lean sites use simplified systems that eliminate the need for diesel generators and large ground-based towers, enabling operators to deliver mobile coverage at lower operating costs while supporting growing demand for data and broadband services.
Industry players are increasingly adopting alternative energy sources to reduce operational expenses. Equally, MTN Nigeria disclosed in its 2025 sustainability report that its use of gas-powered electricity, supplied by independent power producers, and inverter solutions, generated savings of about ₦8.5 billion ($5.7 million) during the year.
The Nigerian Communications Commission recently disclosed that to power network towers nationwide telecoms operators consume more than 40 million litres of diesel per month, thus underscoring the scale of the energy challenge facing the sector.
Airtel Nigeria remained the group’s largest single market during the year, generating $1.6 billion in revenue. The operator’s customer base grew to 58.3 million subscribers, while data usage per customer rose by 30.8% to 11GB monthly, supported by the deployment of 1 050 new sites and 657 5G sites.
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