IHS Holding Limited completes sale of Rwanda operations to Paradigm Tower Ventures

IHS Holding Limited (IHS Towers), one of the world’s largest independent owners and operators of shared communications infrastructure, has announced the successful completion of the sale of its Rwandan subsidiary, IHS Rwanda Limited, to Paradigm Tower Ventures for $274.5 million.

The transaction includes approximately 1,467 telecommunications sites and was executed through Paradigm Infrastructure Holdings (PIH), a consortium comprising Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), British International Investment (BII), and PROPARCO, a French development finance institution.

The sale marks a significant step in IHS Towers’ ongoing efforts to optimize its portfolio and pursue strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing shareholder value.

By divesting its Rwandan operations, the company is refining its focus on key growth markets and strengthening its financial flexibility for future investments and partnerships in high-demand regions.

The transaction also reflects the growing investor interest in Africa’s digital infrastructure sector, with the buyer consortium—led by Paradigm Tower Ventures—positioning itself to expand and modernize telecommunications assets in Rwanda.

This move aligns with the broader regional agenda of improving connectivity, supporting digital transformation, and enabling greater access to mobile and internet services across East Africa.

Paradigm Infrastructure was founded by Stephen Harris, Hal Hess and Steven Marshall, experienced former executives of global and African tower businesses including American Tower Corporation. Paradigm Infrastructure owns 30% of Minara Tanzania, that operates approximately 1,800 sites that provide shared infrastructure services to the leading mobile network operators in Tanzania.

The acquisition of 100% of the equity in IHS Rwanda marked the first investment by Paradigm’s new Sub-Saharan African tower platform, Paradigm Tower Ventures, which is focused on the growth of new build shared wireless infrastructure in sub–Saharan Africa. Paradigm is backed by a consortium of equity and debt finance providers, including Convergence Partners and Rand Merchant Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank, which acted as mandated lead arranger, sole funder and financial advisor to Paradigm Tower Ventures.

“Rwanda represents an exciting market with high demand for shared wireless infrastructure. The Paradigm team is very much looking forward to building a strong customer focused business providing high quality and secure infrastructure to mobile network operators,” said Harris at the time of the announcement in May.

Now the deal is as good as done barring the odd sign-off here and there, attention will now turn to Paradigm becoming an active player in the Rwandan market. The Rwandan Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (RURA) figures show MTN Rwanda holds a 63.2% market share as of 31 March. Its main competitor, Airtel Rwanda, accounts for 36.8%.

As of December 2024, Rwanda had 13,287,329 mobile subscriptions, up slightly from 13,280,844 in November. Postpaid subscriptions rose from 156,887 to 157,470, while prepaid subscriptions grew from 13,123,957 to 13,129,859. Year-on-year, total mobile subscriptions increased by 4.1%, from 12,763,076 in December 2023 to 13,287,329 in December 2024.