Sam Darwish’s IHS Towers makes moves to erect and lease telecom towers in Egypt

Nigeria-headquartered IHS Towers has signed a partnership with Egypt Digital Company for Investment S.A.E. to obtain a license from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to erect and lease telecom towers in Egypt.

The agreement was signed by Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) CEO and Digital Egypt for Investment Chairman Amr Mahfouz and IHS Towers Co-Founder and Group Chief Operating Officer William Saad.

IHS Towers is a Nigeria-based telecommunication infrastructure company founded by Sam Darwish, a telecom tycoon. It is the largest telecom infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East by tower count, and internationally the third-largest independent multinational tower company.

The partnership will create IHS Telecom Towers Egypt S.A.E., an entity that will offer Darwish an 80-percent stake and Egypt Digital Company for Investment 20 percent. The partnership strives to meet the needs of the Egyptian market in terms of wireless telecom towers, achieve the national coverage plan and construct new towers following regulatory requirements.

The partnership aims to cover the Egyptian market’s needs by building 6,000 telecom towers over the next three years and implement a coverage plan following the work scheme and related licensing requirements. The license will also allow for the acquisition and operation of existing mobile phone towers.

The deal comes on the heels of IHS Towers’ announcement of the commencement of its IPO of 22.5 million ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.