Telcos ignore court order as airtime credit stays suspended
On Techpoint Digest, we discuss telcos ignoring a court order as airtime credit stays suspended, how PowerLabs is tackling Nigeria’s energy chaos, and Canal+ listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
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Ahn nyong ha se yo,<br />
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Victoria from Techpoint here,<br />
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Here’s what I’ve got for you today:<br />
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Telcos ignore court order as airtime credit stays suspended<br />
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How PowerLabs is tackling Nigeria’s energy chaos<br />
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Canal+ is listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange<br />
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Telcos ignore court order as airtime credit stays suspended<br />
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Fine, regulatory<br />
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Nigeria’s telecoms sector is in an awkward standoff, and this time, it’s not just about pricing or network quality. It’s about whether court orders actually matter. On April 28, 2026, reports confirmed that MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission are yet to comply with a Federal High Court ruling in Abuja ordering the immediate restoration of digital credit services powered by Nairtime Nigeria Ltd. The judge didn’t hedge; the suspension was described as “unlawful interference,” and a perpetual injunction was issued. Days later, the services are still offline.<br />
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To understand why this is dragging, follow the money. Airtime lending isn’t a side hustle; it’s a massive business. In the first nine months of 2025 alone, MTN’s fintech arm pulled in over ₦131 billion, largely driven by XtraTime. Strip that out, and the rest of its fintech revenue looks tiny by comparison. Across the industry, airtime and data lending are estimated to generate over ₦400 billion a year, with millions of Nigerians relying on it daily. The trigger for the shutdown was new rules introduced in 2025 that reclassified these services as consumer loans, pulling them into a stricter regulatory net.<br />
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That’s where the real conflict sits. The FCCPC says operators needed to comply with its lending rules. The telcos say they paused services to do exactly that. But another layer complicates things: the Nigerian Communications Commission had already licensed the underlying service provider. So now it’s less about compliance and more about jurisdiction — who actually has the authority to regulate what. And while regulators a...
