NCC Approves 52 New Mobile Phone Models for Use in Nigeria
- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has increased the total number of approved mobile phones
- The new phones bring the total number of authorised phones in Nigeria to over 2,300, dominated by Chinese-owned phones
- The phone brands include Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. iPhone, iTel, Realme and Honour also compete for the market
Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of experience in business journalism, with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that the total number of approved phones in Nigeria is now 2,397 as of Wednesday, 20 August 2025.
This is a significant increase from 2,303 approved phones as at August 2024.
Source: Getty Images
As of December 2024, Nigeria's number of approved phone types stood at 2,352.
The list of mobile phone manufacturers with devices approved for use in Nigeria by the NCC cuts across global and regional brands, including Alcatel, Motorola, Vivo, Apple, Lenovo Mobile, Xiaomi, and Gionee Communication.
Others include Nokia Corporation, Techno and Samsung, among several others.
These companies dominate Nigeria’s mobile device market with a wide range of models tested and certified to meet the NCC’s technical standards.
Why NCC approves phone use in Nigeria
The NCC has a mandate to regulate and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment operating in the country to ensure safety, reliability, and seamless connectivity within Nigeria’s telecoms environment.
In a statement, NCC explained:
"The NCC is empowered by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 to establish and enforce standards for all telecommunications equipment in operation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ensure that they operate seamlessly and safely within the Nigerian telecommunications environment.
"All equipment manufacturers, vendors and operators, including customer devices such as mobile phones and wireless adapters, must therefore ensure that their equipment conform to the applicable standards as mandated by the Commission before bringing them into Nigeria.
"To ensure maximum interoperability and affordability for consumers, the Type Approval standards set by the Nigerian Communications Commission are based on international standards from: The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and its International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)."
Accordingly, all equipment manufacturers, vendors, and operators, covering devices such as mobile phones and wireless adapters, must ensure their products comply with NCC’s standards before they can be imported or sold in Nigeria.
Source: Getty Images
Snapshot of some of the phone models approved in Nigeria
Here are some of the approved phones in Nigeria; the full list can be found here
- Samsung: Galaxy A12, Galaxy S21, Galaxy Note 20
- Apple: iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and latest models
- Tecno: Camon 17, Spark 7, Phantom X
- Infinix: Hot 10, Note 8, Zero X
- iTel: S16, P37, A56
- Huawei: P30 Lite, Y9 Prime, Nova 7i
- Xiaomi: Redmi Note 10, Mi 11 Lite, Redmi 9A
- Nokia: Nokia 5.4, Nokia G20, Nokia C10
- Vivo: Y53s, V19, Y20
- Oppo: A93, Reno 5, A54
- LG: G8 ThinQ, V50 ThinQ, K40
2 million new subscribers recorded as internet usage
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that amid the increase in data costs, internet usage adoption in Nigeria is still surging and 2.5 million new subscribers have been recorded in one month.
NCC reveals that more than 2.5 million new users joined the broadband subscription between December 2024 and January 2025.
Active subscribers increased from 96.32 million in December 2024 to 98.87 million in January 2025, marking a growth from 44.43% to 45.61% internet adoption rate in Nigeria.
Source: Legit.ng
