IHS Towers and MTN Group Strengthen Strategic Partnership to Deliver Mobile Connectivity and Drive Digital Inclusion
Following the announcement last week that IHS Holding Limited (NYSE:IHS) ("IHS Towers" or the "Company") and MTN Group (JSE: MTN) had renewed and extended communications infrastructure deals in Nigeria, as well as completing the renewal of all contracts across IHS Towers-MTN markets recently, the companies said on Tuesday that with the commercial relationship now firmly established for the next decade, they will now work constructively to find a mutually agreeable resolution to governance issues previously raised.
On 7 August 2024, the companies announced the agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032. The contracts include new financial terms that provide what the parties believe to be a more sustainable split between local and foreign currency. With this, IHS Towers and MTN Group have now completed the renewal of approximately 26,000 MTN tenancies on IHS Towers infrastructure across six African markets – Nigeria, Rwanda, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia and South Africa.
MTN Group owns approximately 26% in IHS Towers, a stake which pre-dates the tower company's listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
Sam Darwish, Chairman & CEO, IHS Towers, said, "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."
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."
Building on their 20+ year relationship as commercial partners, both companies will leverage their shared operational excellence and engineering expertise to 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.
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About IHS Towers: IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is solely focused on the emerging markets. The Company has over 40,000 towers across its 10 markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia. For more information, please email: [email protected] or visit: www.ihstowers.com
About the MTN Group: Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading digital operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our customers. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code ‘MTN'. Our strategy is Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa's progress. For more information, please contact: [email protected] or visit www.mtn.com
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