Mobile phone tariffs in Nigeria have remained unchanged for over 10 years.

Nigeria's telecoms regulator will approve a 50% increase in current tariffs following a request from telecommunications operators, in line with rising costs in Africa's most populous nation, it said on Monday.

Lagos: Mobile telephone and data subscribers in Nigeria will now have to pay more after the government approved a 50-percent increase in tariffs, as the country battles one of its worst cost-of-living crises in decades.

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc’s shares jumped after the Nigerian government raised telecommunications tariffs by 50% to offset the impact of the collapse in the naira and surging inflation.Most Read

Nigerian stocks climbed higher on Tuesday as the main equity index added 0.8 per cent or N472 billion on the back of the news of an approved 50 per cent upward tariff adjustment by the Nigerian Communications Commission, fuelling demand for the shares of MTN Nigeria.

Nigeria agreed to allow telecommunications providers to increase tariffs for the first time in 12 years. The 50% adjustment was half of what companies including MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, had asked for to weather harsh economic conditions,

Nigerians have vowed to drag the federal government to court over approval of a 50 percent increase in calls, data, and other telecommunication tariffs. In an instant multiplier effect, Point of Sales Operators have hinted at plans to increase their service charges.