Telecom giant Airtel Africa has warned it could lose up to $4 million in monthly revenue due to ongoing challenges with verifying customers’ National Identification Numbers in Nigeria.
As the deadline of July 31, 2024, approaches, Airtel Africa has yet to verify NINs for approximately 4.9 million of its customers.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated that all telecom operators disconnect lines linked to unverified NINs by the approaching deadline. Airtel Africa detailed these issues in its financial report for the quarter ending June 30, 2024, noting the difficulty in meeting the regulatory requirement.
Airtel Africa CEO Sunil Taldar emphasized that the company is adhering to the NCC’s directives, including blocking SIMs not linked to NINs and those with more than four active SIMs. Despite these efforts, the company is still engaging with around 4.9 million customers to finalize their NIN verification, with an estimated revenue impact of $3 million to $4 million per month.
Taldar assured that Airtel Africa is working closely with the NCC and other authorities to expedite the verification process and minimize both service disruptions and revenue losses.
This verification mandate is part of the Federal Government’s broader NIN-SIM harmonization initiative aimed at updating SIM registration records with valid NIN information.
MTN, Nigeria’s largest mobile network operator, reported disconnecting 4.2 million lines as of February 28, 2024, in compliance with similar regulations.
