Nigeria’s smartphone market surges 29% as naira steadies

Smartphone shipments into Nigeria have rebounded, rising 29% in Q3 2025, on the again of a extra secure naira, in accordance with Omdia, a world know-how market analyst agency. That is the second straight quarter of restoration, as in Q2, the smartphone market rebounded by 10%, its quickest development since Q1 2024, as easing inflation, forex stability, and aggressive device-financing schemes helped the sector crawl out of a bruising 2024.

Smartphones stay Nigeria’s main gateway to the web. As of September 2025, the nation had 140.36 million cell web connections. But six in ten Nigerians are nonetheless offline, largely as a result of smartphones stay costly, in accordance with GSMA, the worldwide business physique for telecom operators.

Forex volatility stays the most important stress level. With nearly all units imported, cellphone costs swing sharply with the naira. The Central Financial institution of Nigeria’s 2023 FX reforms triggered a steep forex slide, pushing smartphone costs out of attain and slowing shipments to only 1% in Q3 2024, reversing the 63% surge recorded in This autumn 2023.

Phone imports into Nigeria fell to $467.70 million in 2024 from $704.76 million in 2023. Nonetheless, the relative stability of the naira, hovering between ₦1,450 and ₦1,500/$ for the reason that starting of 2025, is starting to have an impact.

“Nigeria’s market surged 29% as distributors accelerated imports following Naira stabilising and refreshed sub-US$150 portfolios, spurring upgrades in open-market retail,” Omdia stated in a press release on Thursday.

This development is rippling throughout the continent. Africa’s smartphone shipments jumped 24% year-on-year to 22.8 million models in Q3 2025, ending 5 quarters of decline. Most main markets posted robust double-digit development: South Africa (31%), Nigeria (29%), Egypt (19%), and Kenya (17%).

“Africa delivered an distinctive twin surge in Q3 – sub-US$100 smartphones climbed 57%, their quickest rise in three quarters, whereas the above US$500 grew 52%,” stated Manish Pravinkumar, Principal Analyst at Omdia. “The entry tier was supercharged by TRANSSION, which posted 25% year-on-year development pushed by resilient demand throughout Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.”

Regardless of this, Pravinkumar predicts that Africa’s smartphone market will contract by 6% in 2026 as supply-side pressures mount.   

“Rising BOM (Payments of Supplies) prices, tight reminiscence availability, elevated delivery and insurance coverage charges, and protracted forex weak spot will disproportionately have an effect on the low-end 4G phase, the place most African demand is concentrated,” he added.

For now, Nigeria and by extension Africa look like within the clear, and hopefully this interprets into increased smartphone possession, particularly as its coverage makers ramp up plans to ship smartphones priced between $30 and $40  to its 600 million individuals dwelling inside attain of 3G or 4G networks however have by no means used the web.