#76: IHS Towers - How the telecom infrastructure company is building and managing towers across Africa and beyond

Overview: Today, we’re going to explore IHS Towers - the African telecommunications infrastructure company. We’ll discuss the story across the following areas:

Telecom tower infrastructure context

IHS Towers' early history

Product & monetization strategy

Competitive positioning & potential exit options

Overall outlook

This episode was recorded on May 5, 2024

Companies discussed: IHS Towers, MTN, Airtel, Telkom, Orange, Etisalat / 9 Mobile, American Tower Company, Globacom, Libancell, Helios Towers Nigeria, Telkom, Vodacom, Goldman Sachs, (IFC), Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, Ecobank, Investec, Standard Bank.

Business concepts discussed: Tower Infrastructure, Shared communication infrastructure, Tower Leasing and Ownership Models, Market Expansion, Sale and Leaseback, Local vs Global Strategy, Capital-intensive business models, Currency devaluation

Conversation highlights:

(01:50) - What IHS does and why we’re talking about it

(04:37) - How Towers work

(12:47) - How Telcos work with Towers in Nigeria and parts of Africa

(23:22) - IHS Founding and Early History

(34:19) - Funding

(39:32) - Growth and International Expansion

(47:26) - IHS IPO and trends post IPO

(55:50) - Product Strategy & Monetization

(1:08:30) - Competition

(1:16:22) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook

(1:24:06) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook

(1:30:24) - Recommendations and small wins

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at [email protected]. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at [email protected]

Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)

Recommendation: Incredible Dance routine video to Sisa Song by King Promise: I love it so much I'm not sure how to put it into words. 1 minute of greatness

Recommendation: Chris Brown “Sensational” live performance : Watching Chris Brown dance is watching a master of his craft.

Recommendation: J. Cole - Let Nas Down

Recommendation: Nas - Make Nas Proud

Recommendation: Nas & Eminem - EPMD 2

Recommendation: Nas - Rare

Small win: Went back to reading older books to reset my reading palate

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

Recommendation: The Search for the Perfect Door - YouTube && Unusual Electric Car Features in Nigeria - Bloomberg

Small win: Running sprints

Other content: Palito FM Autoscan Radio

Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected] with feedback!

Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at [email protected]

Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at [email protected]

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