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Is MTN reversing Africa’s tower revolution? Control matters

A communication tower. Photo by Wallace Chuck @ Pexels
A communication tower. Photo by Wallace Chuck @ Pexels

Vincent Nwanma

Vincent Nwanma is a seasoned analyst, columnist, and reporter with over 30 years of experience in business and economics journalism across Nigeria and Africa.
  • MTN’s $2.2bn takeover tests Africa’s decade-old asset-light telecom model.
  • Towers, fibre, data centres and power are becoming strategically intertwined.

 

LAGOS, NIGERIA – MTN’s $2.2bn move to take full control of IHS Towers is challenging a decade-old African telecom orthodoxy: sell towers, free capital and focus on customers.

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