IHS Towers, Africa’s mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider, has signed a deal with Etisalat Nigeria to purchase 2,136 of its towers, worth US$400mn
According to Reuters, the deal will also see the Nigerian-headquartered company lease its towers to Etisalat Nigeria as well as invest US$100mn to upgrade and improve its efficiency.
With operations in Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia and Rwanda and over 10,000 towers in its portfolio, IHS Towers’ acquisition of the towers will take the total numbers of towers they manage in Nigeria to 6,540.
Expected to be finalised towards the end of the year, the deal has been described as part of a broader strategy to drive improvements in the quality of Etisalat’s network performance and to accelerate roll out of 2G and 3G coverage and new services to its customers in the country.
Issam Darwish, CEO of IHS Towers, said, “The partnership will provide significant long-term benefits to Etisalat Nigeria, allowing them to focus entirely on marketing new customer propositions to a wider market.
“We are delighted to have been trusted by Etisalat Nigeria with their passive network infrastructure. Our market-leading operations team, managed through a state-of-the-art network operations centre and our continual investment in better, more efficient systems and technologies will ensure that that trust is well-placed”.
Matthew Willsher, CEO of Etisalat Nigeria, added that the deal was in response to the continued demand for mobile connectivity along with increased consumption of data requires reliable and effective networks that are also cost efficient for network operators.
“The decision to sell our passive infrastructure to an experienced commercial partner, such as IHS Towers, is part of our strategy to increase network coverage and capacity of service,” he added.
