MTN, IHS renew tower deal

Following last week's announcement that IHS Holding Limited and MTN Group have renewed and extended their communications infrastructure agreements in Nigeria

The companies revealed that they will now address previously raised governance issues constructively, with their commercial relationship solidified for the next decade.

On August 7, 2024, IHS Towers and MTN Group agreed to extend their Master Lease Agreements for Nigerian towers through December 2032. The renewed contracts feature revised financial terms aimed at achieving a more balanced split between local and foreign currencies. This renewal completes the extension of approximately 26,000 MTN tenancies on IHS Towers’ infrastructure across six African countries: Nigeria, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia, and South Africa.

Sustainable network investment focus

MTN Group holds around 26% of IHS Towers, a stake established before the tower company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.

MTN Group president and CEO Ralph Mupita said, “The renewal of the various contracts across our markets into the next decade put MTN operations in the respective markets onto a more sustainable footing. We remain focused on ensuring our networks are well invested, have high availability and have the headroom to meet the growing and structural demand for data going into the future. These renewals are key to those priorities. We look forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues now that commercial arrangements have been concluded.”

Sam Darwish, chairman & CEO, IHS Towers, commented, “As our largest customer and longest serving partner, we are proud to have completed the renewal of all tenancies with MTN Group in our African markets. Today, we reinforce our strategic relationship and commit to increased operational stability, by securing our revenue streams into the next decade, and leveraging our shared innovation to deliver critical connectivity and support digital inclusion across the African continent. We are excited by the next phase of our commercial partnership and welcome the opportunity to work constructively for the benefit of the end user.” 

Building on their 20+ year relationship as commercial partners, both companies will leverage their shared operational excellence and engineering expertiseto meet the end users’ increasingly sophisticated data demands. Together, IHS Towers and MTN Group have a track record of navigating complex operating environments and challenging macroeconomic conditions to deliver connectivity crucial to economic growth and digital inclusion.