By Ukumbi Afrika 
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Lagos—Nigeria MTN Group is seeking local Nigerian investors to acquire up to a 30% stake in IHS Nigeria, with the transaction potentially raising between $900 million and $1.1 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The proposed sell-down follows an agreement with Nigeria’s competition authorities as part of regulatory conditions attached to MTN’s planned acquisition of the remaining shares in IHS Towers.
MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said proceeds from any sale would be used to reduce debt associated with the IHS transaction. He added that the stake would be sold on a market-oriented valuation basis.
IHS Nigeria is the largest asset of New York-listed IHS Holdings and operates approximately 18, 000 mobile-phone towers in Nigeria. Across Africa, IHS manages about 29, 000 towers, making its infrastructure critical to the continent’s rapidly expanding telecommunications sector.
MTN announced earlier this year that it would acquire the roughly 75% of IHS Towers it does not already own, moving toward full ownership of the tower company. The transaction is expected to strengthen MTN’s control over telecommunications infrastructure while providing an opportunity to reduce operating and leasing costs.
The Nigerian ownership requirement could also create a major opportunity for domestic institutional and strategic investors to gain exposure to one of the country’s largest telecommunications infrastructure businesses.
MTN has previously said the 30% localisation requirement was agreed with Nigeria’s competition authorities and that any proceeds from the sell-down would be used to reduce the IHS debt stack.
Source: Reuters