MTN Nigeria vs Verizon: How Cost of Living Shapes Company Valuation

How much does a country’s cost of living shape the revenue, dividends and market valuation of its companies? MTN Nigeria and Verizon provide an interesting comparison. Verizon has about 146 million subscribers, reported revenue of roughly $138 billion, a 2025 market value of about $182 billion and dividend payments of $11.5 billion. MTN Nigeria has about 96.39 million subscribers, revenue of roughly $3.62 billion, a market value near $13 billion and dividend payments of about $300 million. The argument is that subscriber numbers alone do not determine corporate value. Local purchasing power affects what customers can pay, while local wages and operating costs affect profitability. A telecom company operating in Nigeria may have lower costs than one in the United States, but it would also earn far less per customer. This gap can be seen beyond telecoms. A restaurant, hotel, bakery or carpentry business operating at the same scale in New York and Ibadan may have very different revenues and valuations because prices, incomes and spending power differ sharply. Do you think MTN Nigeria is undervalued in real terms, or does the market already reflect these realities?

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