Airtel Nigeria Unveils 350 New Retail Shops to Expand Customer Service Access Nationwide

 Airtel Nigeria Unveils 350 New Retail Shops to Expand Customer Service Access Nationwide

Airtel Nigeria has launched 350 new premium retail shops across the country as part of a broader plan to establish 500 customer service outlets, a move aimed at bringing faster and more convenient telecom services closer to millions of subscribers.

Airtel Nigeria has expanded its nationwide retail network with the unveiling of 350 premium retail shops out of a planned 500, reinforcing its commitment to improving customer access to telecom services across the country.

The new outlets were officially launched at a symbolic ceremony held at City Mall, Onikan, Lagos, on Wednesday. The expansion forms part of the company's broader retail strategy aimed at delivering faster, more accessible, and convenient services to customers nationwide.

With the latest rollout, Airtel said it now operates more than 9,000 exclusive shops across Nigeria's 774 local government areas, over 350 premium experience centres, and more than 73,000 retail outlets in major towns and cities.

Designed as compact, high-efficiency service centres, the new shops will offer a wide range of services, including Home Broadband, Fibre and Outdoor Unit subscriptions, Postpaid plan subscriptions, Enterprise application enquiries and subscriptions, SIM registration, data plan purchases, account support, and other prepaid services.

The company also announced that several of the new outlets have commenced operations at locations including Purple Mall, Lekki; Marina and Magodo in Lagos; Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta; Trend Setter Mall, Benin; Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Kano City Mall, Kano; and Carpenters Mall, Gwarinpa, Abuja, among others.

Speaking at the launch, Airtel Nigeria's Director of Sales and Distribution, Joypratip Sengupta, said the expansion underscores the company's commitment to delivering quality customer service through improved accessibility.

"Our goal is to demonstrate our dedication to exceptional quality of service, and these new shops, by their design, location, and equipment, fit right within our goal to deliver superior service to every one of our customers," he said.

According to Sengupta, Airtel remains focused on bringing its services closer to customers by making support available wherever it is needed.

"Our business at Airtel is to ensure that we bring our services closer to our customers, and everything we do is centred on putting the customer first. These experience centres are open to help customers carry out their transactions faster and with greater ease. Whether you want to replace a SIM, purchase one of our routers, recharge airtime or data, or resolve any service issue, you can now do so more conveniently and closer to where you are," he added.

He explained that the new outlets are designed to reduce congestion at larger experience centres while improving speed and convenience for customers.

"These express shops are designed to reduce traffic at our larger shops while giving customers faster access to the services they need. More importantly, they reinforce our vision of building the most accessible customer service network in Nigeria. As the telecom operator with the country's largest retail footprint, we will continue expanding into more neighbourhoods, making it easier for customers to connect with Airtel wherever they are," Sengupta said.

Also speaking at the event, Head of Shops and Retail Postpaid Business at Airtel Nigeria, Lynda Amechi, said the new retail concept was developed in response to customer feedback.

"At Airtel, some of our best ideas come directly from our customers. One of the recurring concerns we received was the time customers sometimes spent waiting at our larger experience centres, even when they only needed simple transactions completed. We listened carefully and realised that many of these requests could be resolved within minutes if we brought our services closer to the communities where customers live and work," she said.

Airtel noted that the new retail outlets complement its ongoing investments in digital self-service platforms, artificial intelligence-powered customer support, nationwide customer engagement forums, and continued expansion of its network infrastructure.

The company said the latest rollout further strengthens its physical customer service network while integrating digital innovation to enhance the overall customer experience for subscribers across Nigeria.