Nigeria’s antitrust regulator ordered MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile operator, to sell a 30% stake in its Nigerian tower unit to local investors as a condition to secure approval for the $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Holdings. The ruling underscores Abuja’s push to deepen local ownership of pillars of Nigeria’s digital economy.
The purchase of IHS, one of the largest tower operators in emerging markets with a heavy footprint in Nigeria, is part of MTN’s strategy to reintegrate digital infrastructure and capture earnings growth from tower assets.
The regulator’s demand injects fresh uncertainty into if and when the deal closes. Local institutions — already facing shortages of foreign currency and tight liquidity — must raise capital to finance such a sale, but MTN expects the transaction to close by year-end. The deal, which MTN says will immediately boost profits, has already secured shareholder approval. The regulatory greenlight came as MTN reported a nearly 25% rise in half-year core profit, or EBITDA, allowing it to launch a nearly $380 million share buyback program.