A focus on the African MNVO market evolution clearly indicates that Africa does not need regulators to issue more licences but needs more MVNOs that can launch, serve their customers and scale.
That distinction matters if Africa’s MVNO market is to change significantly.
A regulator-issued license only gives a prospective company permission to enter a market. It does not always provide you suitable wholesale or commercial agreement with a Host MNO. It does not connect systems. It does not provide access to funding. Access to network services, number ranges, equipment and solution platforms with customer support tools are only guaranteed with more funding.
This is the central issue for MVNO development across Africa.
The continent has strong mobile demand. It also has large, young, and digitally active populations. Africa has a total population of approximately 1.59 billion people. Africa is the youngest continent globally, with over 60% of its population under the age of 25 and roughly 75% aged 35 and younger. Yet the MVNO model remains limited and barely relevant in most African markets. That is not because the model lacks relevance but because the path from license to launch is still too uncertain.
If one makes a global comparison, the gap becomes real and striking.
A European Commission comparison counted 351 non-investment-based virtual operators across the European Union. The same comparison counted 70 MVNOs in the United States. Source: European Commission
Africa is at a different stage.
A World Bank assessment counted about 50 active or planned MVNOs across only 13 African markets. South Africa accounted for 28 of them. In most markets, MVNOs usually held less than 2% of subscribers’ asides Kenya and Senegal. In some countries, MVNO licenses were issued for over five to ten years with no visible progress to launch. Source: World Bank
Most African regulators treat MVNO as a side project rather than a practical way to create mobile and digital expansion which can support financial inclusion, diaspora services, enterprise mobility, agriculture, logistics, connected devices and much more.
However, an MVNO market only works when the commercial and technical foundations are in place.
Nigeria shows both progress and pressure
Nigeria offers an important lesson in this context.
The Nigerian Communications Commission issued 46 MVNO licences since 2023, a significant number by any measure. Yet, as at the time of writing this article, September 2026, only two licensees had launched commercial services with real customers. The barriers included workable commercial agreements, operating expertise, and challenges of raising capital.
These delays should not be described as failures as many have done.
The NCC created a tiered MVNO framework which recognised that not every entrant needs the same level of infrastructure. MVNEs, were licensed which as well can reduce the technical burden for MVNOs.
The commercial launches matter too which testifies that the model can move from policy phase into the real market. This has become the measure for success, the number of operating MVNOs. Regulators should now track launches, active subscribers, host agreements, failed negotiations, and time-to-market.
The NCC’s 2026 review of its MVNO Draft Business Rules was released recently for MVNOs which is very timely to expedite HMNO/MNO engagements. Source: NCC.
The next step should be to turn lessons from the first launches into clearer market rules.
South Africa has scale, but not a finished model
South Africa is Africa’s most developed MVNO market with more active brands, more wholesale experience, and stronger consumer familiarity with alternative mobile offers.
Their progress did not happen by chance.
This is a market with stronger retail distribution. It also has large banks, retailers, and digital businesses with existing customer relationships and platforms that can leverage their customer bases to add mobile services without starting from zero.
Regulatory choices have also been a growth catalyst. South Africa attached MVNO access obligations to parts of its spectrum licensing process. This was an intentional model by ICASA to support service-based competition and wider participation. Source: ICASA spectrum licensing reasons document
Even with the growth and adoption of MVNOs in South Africa, it’s still not to be presented as a perfect model. The World Bank estimated that South Africa had about 28 MVNOs, but their combined market share remained close to 2% which shows that more brands do not always mean stronger competition.
The lesson is simple. Regulators should not only support entry. They should also create conditions for sustainable growth.
East and Central Africa offer useful insights
East Africa MVNO market shows the value of a clear customer proposition. It was not built around cheaper voice minutes alone; it was built around an existing customer need. We have niche/sector players becoming MVNOs with financial services. Similar examples can be found in Cameroon and Central African Republic.
That example matters
As much as these developments are encouraging, a legal category alone is not enough. The test is whether a licence leads to a workable agreement with a host MNO.
What can regulators do next?
Come up with wholesale access that’s practical enough
Regulators should create clear, standard commercial or wholesale reference offers with the host MNOs involved. These offers should explain pricing principles, service levels, technical interfaces, activation timelines, and escalation paths. This in itself also builds investor confidence in the market.
A vague commitment to “consider” MVNO access is not enough.
The objective is not to force MNOs into loss-making deals. MNOs carry significant infrastructure, spectrum, power, and maintenance costs. They need a fair return for their enabling infrastructures.
However, wholesale prices cannot sit so close to retail prices that an MVNO has no room to operate.
Regulators should also provide fast dispute-resolution processes. A start-up cannot wait for years for a commercial disagreement to be resolved.
Develop a more practical approach to Licensee selection.
Applicants should show realistic funding plans, a host or MVNE pathway, customer-protection plans, and credible target market with value added differentiating offerings. In exchange, regulators should reduce unnecessary delays.
This would improve the quality of applications. It would also reduce the number of licences that remain dormant.
A licence should be a route to service, not a certificate on a wall.
Support MVNEs and shared infrastructure
MVNE model can significantly lower the cost and complexity of entry as they have the existing operational layer between MVNOs and a host MNO.
This is key in markets where smaller entrants light MVNOs have limited financial muscle to build billing, provisioning, fraud management, eSIM, and customer-care capabilities all by themselves. As an important component of the market structure, they should ensure that MVNOs can access numbering, porting, and technical onboarding processes without avoidable barriers. Infrastructure sharing should receive serious attention. It must be governed by transparent terms and strong service standards.
MNOs are part of the answer
MNOs are easily blamed for delays and framed as the obstacle in the MVNO business.
But MNOs also have legitimate concerns. They have invested heavily in spectrum acquisition, coverage, power, security, and network upgrades. They do not want wholesale arrangements that damage their ability to invest.
Problem emerges when negotiations become slow, opaque, or commercially unrealistic. A well-designed MVNO partnerships can create value for MNOs.
African regulators should create a balanced bargain for fair play. Host MNOs should earn fair wholesale returns while MVNOs should have enough margin and functionality to run a sustainable growth. Customers and consumers should have more options to choose from.
For Vendors – Just keep engaging
It is easy to conclude that that Africa lacks MVNO potential because some early markets have moved slowly.
Africa is not one and same market. Each country has its regulation, income levels, infrastructure, mobile-money adoption, and different customer behaviour.
The opportunity will emerge in stages.
These are price-sensitive markets. Vendors can provide support, local skills, modular technology, and realistic launch models. Engaging operators early can help progress understanding of integration designs and plans. The best products will not succeed if the market rules prevent launch.
The next phase of Africa’s MVNO journey should not be measured by licence announcements. It should be measured by working partnerships, active customers, and services that solve real problems.
That is how African licences become real markets.
