First WATT, a renewable energy infrastructure company, has signed a partnership with MTN Nigeria to deploy 34 megawatts of clean energy across the telco’s network sites — one of the most significant utility-scale renewable commitments made by a Nigerian telecom operator to date. The deal also extends to electric vehicle charging infrastructure, positioning MTN Nigeria as an early mover in the country’s nascent EV ecosystem.
The partnership covers the deployment of solar and hybrid energy systems across MTN Nigeria’s tower infrastructure. Nigeria’s telecom towers have historically run on a combination of grid power and diesel generators — an expensive, polluting, and unreliable arrangement that costs the industry billions of naira annually. For MTN Nigeria, which operates one of the country’s largest network footprints, the shift to renewables is as much about cost discipline as it is about sustainability commitments.
Powering the Grid and the Road
The inclusion of EV charging in the deal signals a strategic ambition that goes beyond tower efficiency. MTN Nigeria is quietly positioning its tower network as dual-purpose energy infrastructure — a move that, if executed well, could turn the telco into an energy utility player at the same time as it decarbonises its operations. Nigeria’s EV charging ecosystem remains thin outside Lagos and Abuja, with reliable public infrastructure almost nonexistent in secondary cities. MTN’s tower footprint — distributed across urban and semi-urban markets — could give this rollout genuine geographic reach that purpose-built EV operators have so far struggled to achieve.
First WATT’s role in the partnership is as the energy developer and systems integrator. The company will design, deploy, and maintain the solar and battery installations across the agreed tower sites. The 34MW figure is substantial for a single partnership — for context, it would rank among Nigeria’s larger private commercial solar deployments, a market that has grown rapidly as grid instability pushes businesses toward energy independence.
MTN Nigeria has accelerated infrastructure investment significantly over the past year. The telco’s growing focus on becoming a shared infrastructure platform — leasing network capacity to MVNOs while scaling its own tower assets — makes the case for cheaper, cleaner energy stronger. Energy costs are among the largest operating expenditure lines for any tower-heavy business in Nigeria, and diesel dependency amplifies exposure to fuel price volatility.
What the Deal Doesn’t Yet Resolve
The accountability question here is timeline and delivery. Nigeria’s energy sector has a long history of announced partnerships that underperform on execution. Whether First WATT has the capital, supply chain access, and local installation capacity to move 34MW through deployment at pace will determine whether this remains a headline or becomes an infrastructure milestone.
The EV component adds another layer of complexity. Charging infrastructure deployment is not just a technical problem — it requires site permitting, consumer awareness, pricing strategy, and grid interconnection agreements where applicable. MTN Nigeria has not disclosed a phased rollout schedule, specific sites earmarked, or the commercial model for the charging stations, which leaves significant execution variables unresolved.
Nigeria’s EV infrastructure debate has grown sharper in 2026, as analysts and policymakers argue over whether charging supply or vehicle affordability is the binding constraint on adoption. A telco-anchored charging rollout would address part of the supply problem — but without affordable EVs in the market at scale, utilisation rates on those chargers may remain low for years.
What to watch next: First WATT’s track record on comparable deployments, the geographic spread of the initial tower sites, and whether MTN Nigeria folds this into a broader energy-as-a-service commercial offering in the months ahead.
