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IHS Towers

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IHS Towers
TypePublic
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded2001; 25 years ago (2001)
FounderSam Darwish
Area served
Africa, Latin America, Middle East
Websiteihstowers.com

IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world, with operations across Africa and Latin America. It is the fifth-largest independent multinational tower company in the world.[1][2][3][4] In 2026, MTN Group agreed to acquire the company, excluding its Latin America operations.[5][6]

Operations

[edit]

Founded by Sam Darwish in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2001, IHS specializes in building and operating communication infrastructure throughout emerging markets. The company launched colocation services in 2009,[7] and had acquired MTN’s tower portfolios in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Zambia and Rwanda by 2014.[8]

Following the completion of a sale and leaseback agreement with the mobile network operator Zain in Kuwait, and the acquisition of Cell Site Solutions in February 2020, IHS Towers expanded beyond Africa, operating across three continents. It is one of the world’s fastest growing tower operators, owning and managing approximately 37,000 towers in 7 countries[9], including Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia in Africa; and Brazil, Colombia in Latin America.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The company sold its 70% stake in IHS Kuwait to Zain Group in 2024[20] and completed the sale of its Rwanda operations to Paradigm in October 2025.[21]

IHS was listed on the NYSE in October 2021 in what was noted as the largest U.S. listing of a company with an African heritage.[22]

The company operates six business segments: colocation and lease amendments; new sites; inbuilding solutions, or distributed antenna system (DAS); small cell; fiber connectivity; and rural telephony.[23][24][25][26]

In November 2021, IHS expanded its fiber offering and closed its acquisition of a 51% stake in FiberCo Solucoes de Infraestrutura from TIM Brasil.[27] In February 2025, it announced the sale of its stake back to TIM S.A.[28] In June 2022, IHS acquired MTN South Africa’s towers.[29]

IHS increased its use of solar energy and hybrid power systems to reduce its overall emissions; by December 2020, over 45% of its African operations had solar power available.[30] In October 2022, IHS published its "Carbon Reduction Roadmap", a strategy for decreasing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by approximately 50% by 2030.[7][31]

Mobile network operators (MNO)s that IHS works with include: MTN, Orange, Airtel, Etisalat, Millicom, Zain, Claro, TIM, Telefônica and Vivo.[32][33][13][34][35][36]

Along with its founding partners, UBC, IHS is supported by a group of international shareholders including Emerging Capital Partners, International Finance Corporation, Wendel, Goldman Sachs, African Infrastructure Investment Managers, Investec, the IFC’s Global Infrastructure Fund, (FMO) Dutch development bank, Korea Investment Corporation, and Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC.[37][38][39][40]

The IHS Board includes Jeb Bush, who heads the governance committee; Ursula Burns, the former Xerox CEO and the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, who also sits on the Uber and Nestle boards; and Carolina Lacerda, the former head of investments banking of UBS in Brazil.[41]

In February 2026, MTN Group announces proposed acquisition of IHS Towers' remaining 75% stake in the company, valuing IHS at around $6.2 billion.[42][43][44]

In March 2026, MTN Group reports exceptional 2025 results, unveils evolved platform strategy [45] The same day, Shining Stars (ACS) lodged a €4 billion ($4.3 billion) whistleblower complaint through the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging that a contingent liability of up about 70% of the value of MTN's recently announced $6.2-billion (R103-billion) merger with IHS Towers has not been disclosed in MTN's 2025 financial statements or the IHS merger proxy filings.[46][47]

In February 2025, IHS Nigeria announced launches Incubation and Accelerator programs at Ilorin Innovation Hub ahead of its official commissioning. Development in partnership with Kwara State Government, the hub aims to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and digital skills development through programs delivered by Co-creation Hub (CcHub) and future Africa. The initiative is expected to create over 10,000 jobs, support startups and young innovators, and strengthen Nigeria's technology ecosystem while completing the Federal Government's 3MTT digital skills program[48] [49] [50][51][52][53]

In April 2026, IHS Nigeria, in partner with the Ilorin Innovation Hub (IIH), hosted the inaugural Demo day, "The Convergence," at the Hub's facility in Ilorin, Kwara State. The event showcased 19 startups from the Hub acceleration and incubation programs, giving them the opportunity to present their innovation solution to investors, venture capital firms, corporate partners, and the media[54][55][56][57][58][59]

In July 2026, IHS Nigeria collaborated with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Kwara State Government to launch the AWS re/Start programme at the Ilorin Innovation Hub. The programme provided cloud computing training to 30 participants, with the aim of equipping unemployed and underemployed young people with technical and employability skills for careers in cloud computing.[60]

Competitors

[edit]

IHS competitors in Africa include Helios Towers and American Tower Corporation.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "MTN and Airtel drive 57% of IHS Towers' revenue in 2024". Techcabal.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  2. ↑ Smith, Matt. "Africa phone tower firm IHS raises $2.6 billion", Reuters, 3 November 2014. Accessed 16 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Africa's biggest mobile tower operator plans New York IPO". Financial Times. September 17, 2021.
  4. ↑ "MTN agrees to sell and leaseback 5,700 towers to IHS Towers".
  5. ↑ Bonisele (2026-02-17). "MTN Group announces proposed acquisition of IHS Towers |". Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  6. ↑ "MTN to take full control of IHS Towers in deal valuing it at $6.2 billion".
  7. 1 2 "IHS Towers completes its acquisition of MTN South Africa's 5,701 tower portfolio". Tower Exchange. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  8. ↑ "IHS concludes MTN tower buy-out in Zambia, Rwanda". Engineering News. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  9. ↑ Dux, Simon (2026-02-06). "MTN considers $2.7bn buyout of IHS Towers in strategic reversal". Mobile Europe. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  10. ↑ "IHS Towers swells LatAm portfolio with 74 new Brazilian sites in Q1". Bnaamericas.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  11. ↑ "IHS Towers' loss widens despite revenue increase". Mobile Europe. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  12. ↑ "IHS Towers looking for buyers for Brazil operation". BNA Americas. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  13. 1 2 "Zain Kuwait closes US$130mn sale and leaseback deal with IHS Towers". TowerXchange. February 14, 2020. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Nigeria's IHS Towers acquires Brazil's Cell Site Solutions from Goldman Sachs". Nairametrics. December 24, 2019.
  15. ↑ Nsehe, Mfonobong. "Nigerian Multi-Millionaire Tycoon Issam Darwish Raises $2.6 Billion For Telecom Towers", Forbes, 11 March 2014. Accessed 13 August 2015
  16. ↑ "IHS Towers prepares to IPO". TowerXchange. August 26, 2020. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  17. ↑ Thomson, Amy; Spillane, Chritospher. "IHS Said to Pay About $2 Billion for MTN Towers in Nigeria", Bloomberg, 4 September 2014. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Top 141 towercos and infracos worldwide, by estimated tower count"[permanent dead link], TowerXchange, June 2015. Accessed 13 August 2015.
  19. ↑ "IHS Towers coughs up $413m for 5,700 MTN sites". Telecoms.com. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  20. ↑ "IHS Holding Announces Completion Of Sale Of 70% Interest In IHS Kuwait - Quick Facts". Nasdaq.com. Retrieved 2025-05-28.
  21. ↑ "IHS Towers completes sale of Rwanda tower business to Paradigm - Developing Telecoms". developingtelecoms.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  22. ↑ "African mobile mast operator IHS Towers seeks valuation of more than $7bn". Financial Times. October 4, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Creating A Connected World". Leaders magazine. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  24. ↑ "Africa's largest tower company eyes Gulf for growth". Arabian Business. April 4, 2019.
  25. ↑ "MTN expands scope of tower service, targets rural connectivity". Nairametrics. July 24, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Adapting to our region" Archived 2015-12-27 at the Wayback Machine, IHS Towers. Accessed 13 August 2015.
  27. ↑ "IHS Towers takes majority holding in TIM Brasil's FiberCo". Developing Telecoms. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  28. ↑ "IHS Towers sells I-Systems stake back to TIM SA in US$453m deal - Developing Telecoms". developingtelecoms.com. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  29. ↑ "IHS Towers completes its acquisition of MTN South Africa's 5,701 tower portfolio". Tower Exchange. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
  30. ↑ "IHS Towers on their IPO, MTN deal, Brazilian fibre, Egypt entrance and more". Tower Xchange. December 6, 2021. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  31. ↑ "IHS Towers announces emissions targets". SAMENA. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  32. ↑ "Capitalizadas, empresas regionais de telecom avançam nos espaços de Oi, Vivo e TIM". InfoMoney (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  33. ↑ "IHS acelera implantação de torres e aumenta capex de fibra na América Latina". BNA Americas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  34. ↑ "Kuwait's Zain inks $165m mobile towers deal". Arabian Business. 14 October 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  35. ↑ "Orange and IHS sign tower leasing agreement to improve mobile networks in Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon" (Press Release). London, Paris: Orange, IHS Towers. 2 April 2013. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  36. ↑ Clark, Simon. "IHS Buys Airtel’s Mobile Phone Towers in Zambia and Rwanda", The Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2014. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  37. ↑ "Deal: MTN Says It'll Swap 51% Of Its interest In Nigeria Tower For Additional Stake In IHS". Nairametrics. February 2, 2017.
  38. ↑ Smith, Matt. "Africa phone tower firm IHS raises $2.6 billion", Reuters, 3 November 2014. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  39. ↑ Blas, Javier. "Goldman Sachs joins scramble for African mobile telecoms", The Financial Times, 2 March 2014. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  40. ↑ Rice, Xan. "IHS: Local knowledge is important in fulfilling towering ambitions", The Financial Times, 27 November 2012. Accessed 14 August 2015.
  41. ↑ "Sam Darwish, the 'Indiana Jones' of IHS Towers". Brazil Journal. May 10, 2021.
  42. ↑ Bonisele (2026-02-17). "MTN Group announces proposed acquisition of IHS Towers |". Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  43. ↑ "MTN to take full control of IHS Towers in deal valuing it at $6.2 billion".
  44. ↑ "MTN Agrees to Buy IHS Towers at $6.2 Billion Value".
  45. ↑ amogelangmaluleka (2026-03-16). "MTN Group reports exceptional 2025 results, unveils evolved platform strategy |". Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  46. ↑ Schutters, Lindsey (2026-03-16). "Excellent MTN results paper over Iran crisis and R80bn Mobile Money cracks". Daily Maverick. Archived from the original on 2026-03-17. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  47. ↑ "XBRL Viewer". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
  48. ↑ Adejumoh, Justus (2025-02-28). "IHS Nigeria Commences Programs At Ilorin Innovation Hub". Independent Newspaper Nigeria. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  49. ↑ "IHS Nigeria-powered Ilorin Innovation Hub Goes Live with Program Kick-off". 2025-03-07. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  50. ↑ Anthony (2025-02-28). "Kwara, IHS target 10,000 jobs from Ilorin innovation hub". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  51. ↑ "IHS Nigeria Kickoff Programs at the Ilorin Innovation Hub". IHS Towers Corporate. Archived from the original on 2025-08-12. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  52. ↑ Olatunji, Kehinde (2026-05-06). "Kwara emerges new tech frontier as hub, IHS connect startups with investors". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  53. ↑ Okamgba, Justice (2025-03-02). "IHS supports tech innovation drive in Kwara". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  54. ↑ "IHS, Innovation Hub showcase 19 startups to global investors". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  55. ↑ Olatunji, Kehinde (2026-04-29). "Kwara emerges new tech frontier as hub, IHS connect startups with investors". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  56. ↑ Onwuegbuchi, Chike (2026-04-20). "IHS Nigeria, Ilorin Innovation Hub Showcase 19 High Growth Startups". Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  57. ↑ Udugba, Peace (2026-04-18). "IHS Nigeria, Ilorin Hub Host Demo Day for 19 Emerging Startups". TheDailyTorchMedia. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  58. ↑ Joseph, Blessing (2026-04-23). "IHS Nigeria, Ilorin Innovation Hub Showcase 19 Startups, Drive Investment - MSME Africa". Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  59. ↑ Gbadeyanka, Modupe (2026-04-20). "19 Startups Pitch Solutions to Investors, Others at Demo Day in Ilorin". Business Post Nigeria. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
  60. ↑ Aramide, Mansur (2026-07-07). "Kwara govt, AWS, IHS train 30 youths in cloud skills". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. Retrieved 2026-07-16.
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