Africa’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) space has evolved significantly in the nearly two decades since Virgin Mobile was licensed as the continent’s first MVNO in 2006. Since then, two major factors have increasingly started driving this evolution: mobile financial services and service innovation underpinned by technology.

In the last year alone, certain developments in this space have added further variety to the landscape in the form of new types of MVNOs that do not possess the typical attributes usually associated with traditional MVNOS. Depending on the success of these new models, we may begin to see renewed changes to the MVNO ecosystem in Africa.

In the beginning

The concept of MVNOs dates back to the mid-1990s both as a way of addressing spectrum scarcity and as part of the telecommunications liberalisation process. MVNOs were seen as a way to increase competition, disrupt pricing, attract investment, allow for service innovation, address market niches and give consumers more choice.

In light of this, governments began determining the type of regulatory environment  needed for MVNOs to enter the market, including mandatory wholesale access, infrastructure sharing, mobile number portability, and interconnection rules. In addition to an enabling regulatory environment, MVNO licences relied on the presence of at least one operational mobile network operator that had invested adequately in infrastructure and could host an MVNO.  

On the investor side, MVNO licences were mainly positioned to non-telco players who possessed certain attributes such as:

• A considerable customer base on whom these players possessed information and to whom they could position mobile services alongside other offerings. In many cases the existing customers represented a market segment from which a niche could be carved;
• An existing and extensive branch network through which they could sell and support mobile services;
• A strong brand whose equity and trust they could extend to their mobile services to reduce the load of selling to and on boarding new customers.

Naturally, the banking and retail sectors immediately stood out. In the early days, voice and data services were expected to augment existing revenue streams of such players, so price competition for these services was an area of focus. Nowadays, revenue from voice and data is a secondary consideration after mobile financial services.

Market developments and impact

Over the past two decades, numerous MVNOs have been licensed but very few of them have become operational.  As of mid-2026, there are just over 50 operational MVNOs across the continent, with the majority in South Africa. Some MVNOs were licensed and launched but failed to thrive due to issues such as strong competition, weak enforcement of fair wholesale pricing, and infrastructure sharing.

For voice and data services, it is unclear whether MVNOs have met ambitions such as increasing subscriptions, disrupting pricing, fostering competition and allowing for consumer choice. However, for mobile-based financial services (including payments, lending and banking), innovation and addressing niche markets, they continue to make a significant impact.

Emerging Archetypes

In the past year, developments in this space are signalling the addition of a new dimension to the MVNO space in Africa.

Some of the latest MVNOs to be licensed do not meet some of the traditional requirements (i.e. an existing customer base branch network and a strong brand), but instead meet some of the regulatory and market development objectives (e.g. fostering competition, service innovation, increasing penetration). They also require similar market conditions such as an enabling regulatory environment and a host mobile network operator.

Thus, in addition to the originally envisaged banking and retail MVNOs, three new models are emerging from beyond the original mould, although they are unproven.

These include:

1 – Technology focused : Vitel Wireless was among the 46 recently licensed MVNOs in Nigeria. It launched operations in late 2025 and now stands as an outlier across the continent as a new brand in the market without any existing customers or a branch network.

Its ambition is underpinned by its goal of distinguishing itself through collaboration with different ecosystem players as well as diversifying offerings to include areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT),where it can supply its SIM cards to enterprises for tracking goods and products. 

It will be interesting to see how Vitel navigates the stormy quality of service seas, as it will invariably inherit the same electricity supply and power backup issues faced any host networks – an issue singled out by market players as the main cause of poor quality of service.

Depending on how well wholesale access and pricing regulations are enforced in Nigeria, this model may herald a new type of MVNO that is viable in markets that share one of Nigeria’s key characteristics: a high population. 

Countries like Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which have relatively low penetration rates and potential host operators, may be viable for similar MVNO models as long as there is an enabling regulatory environment.

Technology companies across Africa will be watching Vitel closely and may seek to make inroads in other markets with this model.

2 – MVNO extension – Dolphin Telecoms recently launched in South Africa on the back of its existing MVNO operations in Zimbabwe. The operator, which is hosted by Cell C, targets the diaspora, offering a range of mobile-based financial services. It has long-term plans to build a digital payment ecosystem across different countries in the region.

Investors and existing players in countries that host huge diaspora populations or displaced persons, like those around the horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, may be viable markets for this type of model as long as local regulations allow for the entry of MVNOs.

Existing MVNOs like Kenya’s Equitel (owned by Equity Bank) may also want to consider replicating their existing successful model to markets where they already have banking licences such as the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan – again, if local regulations allow for MVNO operations.

3 – “Rescue” Model – Sierra Leone’s highly indebted, state-owned mobile operator, Sierratel, was recently relaunched as an MVNO hosted by the market leader, Africell. Sierratel is expected to regain its footing in the market to compete against its host as well as Orange and QCell.  It plans to target the underserved segments of the market along with government and public sector education institutions.

It should be noted that Sierra Leone does not have any tower leasing companies, though infrastructure sharing already takes places among existing operators. As such, this kind of transition may only be applicable to similar markets.

Beleaguered mobile arms of state-owned operators in countries like Kenya and Uganda, would have been ideal candidates for transitioning into MVNOs using this model to help unburden them of capex.  However, unlike Sierra Leone, both these markets already have established tower leasing companies as a recourse to owning and operating towers.

Furthermore, this model is not yet proven; taking this direction may be putting a struggling entity under palliative care that prolongs its demise rather than preventing it.

Overall, across these emerging models, a strong play in mobile money offerings is among the key differentiators to help new MVNOs carve a niche in existing markets, especially for those with cross-border elements (such as diaspora remittances) or where existing mobile money markets could stand some disruption or innovation (e.g. integration with banks and international payment providers, Islamic banking compliance, new micro lending offerings,  insurance services etc.). 

For both new and existing MVNO models, effective and fair market regulation remains a key enabler that allows a healthy MVNO market to thrive.