MTN Group has secured conditional approval from Nigeria's Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) for its acquisition of the remaining stake in IHS Towers, clearing a major regulatory hurdle in its $2.2 billion takeover of the tower company. The approval comes with a condition that MTN must sell down up to 30% of its stake in the Nigerian component of IHS at market prices over time.
IHS Nigeria operates nearly 16,000 telecom towers used by MTN Nigeria and rivals including Airtel and T2 Mobile. The mandatory sell-down addresses the risk that MTN (already the dominant operator) would control infrastructure its competitors depend on to run their networks. "MTN is comfortable with the conditions as set out," the company said in its interim financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2026.
Catch Up: MTN announced in February 2026 that it is acquiring the remaining roughly 75% of IHS Towers that it does not already own for $2.2bn. The enterprise value of the company is $6.2 billion (which includes its net debt).
In our newsletter in June, we spelt out MTN’s strategy for the next 5 years. MTN announced its 5-year plan “Ambition 2030” in March this year, organised around three platforms.
Connectivity, which covers mobile data, fixed home broadband, and enterprise services; the target is to double data usage across MTN's 16 markets by 2030, with home broadband identified as the largest underpenetrated opportunity.
Fintech, built on its mobile money platform, which is targeting 13x revenue growth from a base that already processed $500 billion in transaction value in 2025.
And finally, Digital Infrastructure, operated through its subsidiary Bayobab, which plans to grow its fibre coverage from 140,000 km to 420,000 km, double subsea capacity, scale data centres from 80MW to 150MW, and add roughly 30,000 towers through this acquisition
Why it matters
Consolidation meets competition. The conditional clearance is the clearest signal yet that regulators will trade market access for local equity participation. For Nigerian infrastructure investors, the 30% carve-out opens a rare seat in hard assets; tower leases generate FX-linked cash flows and hedge naira volatility. MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa both rely heavily on IHS infrastructure, so the sell-down preserves competitive neutrality while letting MTN recapture control of its network backbone.
The playbook for African mega-deals. Regulators across East Africa will read the FCCPC ruling as a template: approve consolidation, but price in local ownership. As data demand accelerates and tower infrastructure becomes strategic, expect more deals with local-participation strings attached.
What to look out for
MTN expects to complete the acquisition in the second half of 2026. Watch for the pricing and structure of the 30% sell-down and whether it comes via a private placement to Nigerian pension funds, a public offer, or a strategic stake sale. Also monitor whether the Nigerian Communications Commission imposes additional operational safeguards on pricing and access for rival operators.
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