News Highlights:
- Renewals cover approximately 13,500 tenancies through to the end of 2032.
- The renewals reaffirm HIS Towers’ long-term partnership with MTN and the criticality of IHS Infrastructure in enabling mobile connectivity.
IHS Towers, one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, and MTN Nigeria have announced an agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032, covering approximately 13,500 tenancy contracts.
Digital TimesNG reports that regarding the approximately 2,500 MTN Nigeria tenancies set to expire at the end of 2024 and in 2025, IHS Towers will renew 1,430 tenancies (including new colocations) under the new terms.
The renewed and extended contracts include 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 terms of the amendments are effective from 1 April 2024, and the existing contracts have been extended to 31 December 2032. Before the renegotiation, the site leases expired variously between December 2024 and December 2029, with the majority expiring in 2029.
The arrangement is a testament to the criticality of IHS Towers’ infrastructure and the strong operational links between IHS Towers and MTN, Nigeria’s largest mobile network operator, with approximately 79 million subscribers.
Under the new terms, there is a USD component that will continue to benefit from annual escalators linked to the US Consumer Price Index, an NGN component that will benefit from escalators linked to the 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.
Digital TimesNG reports that this marks a significant milestone for IHS Towers as it has now completed the renewal of all tower MLAs in Nigeria, a testament to the deepened relationship between the two companies.
Sam Darwish, Chairman & CEO, IHS Towers, said, “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 MLAs in Nigeria, a testament to the deepened relationship between the two companies.
“We are cognizant 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.”
Karl Toriola, MTN Nigeria’s CEO, said, “We are pleased with the successful renegotiation of our tower lease agreements with IHS and ATC, which reflect a collaborative and mutually beneficial outcome aligned with the long-term interests of all parties involved.
“We anticipate that these amendments will unlock significant network cost efficiencies in line with our expense efficiency programme to improve our operating margins and capital position over the medium term.”