IHS Approves Eight Years Renewal, Extension of MTN Tower Lease Agreements
CHIGOZIE AMADI
IHS Nigeria, a subsidiary of IHS Holding Limited, one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, and MTN Nigeria, a subsidiary of MTN Group, yesterday, announced an agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian Tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032, covering approximately 13,500 tenancy contracts.
With regards to the approximately 2,500 MTN Nigeria tenancies that had been due to expire at the end of 2024 and in 2025, under the new terms IHS Towers would renew 1,430 tenancies (including new colocations).
The renewed and extended contracts included new financial terms that provide what the parties believe to be a more sustainable split between local and foreign currency, as well as a new diesel-linked component.
The arrangement was testament to the criticality of IHS Towers’ infrastructure and the strong operational links between IHS Towers and MTN.
In a statement released by IHS Holding Limited, yesterday, the company stated that under the new terms, there would be a dollar component that would continue to benefit from annual escalators linked to US Consumer Price Index, a naira component that would benefit from escalators linked to Nigerian Consumer Price Index, and a new component indexed to the cost of providing diesel power, introduced to act as a hedge against diesel prices and FX fluctuations.
“This marks a significant milestone for IHS Towers as it has now completed the renewal of all tower MLA’s in Nigeria, a testament to the deepened relationship between the two companies,” the Chairman and CEO, IHS Towers, Sam Darwish, said.
According to Darwish, “We are delighted to announce the renewal and extension of our agreement with our largest customer, MTN Nigeria. This marks a significant milestone for IHS Towers as it has completed the renewal of all tower MLA’s in Nigeria, a testament to the deepened relationship between the two companies.
“We are cognisant of the challenges faced in emerging markets and are proud to extend our relationship into the next decade, working together to navigate global and local macro conditions while broadening mobile connectivity in Nigeria through our critical infrastructure.”
