Infrastructure company IHS Towers completed the sale of assets in Brazil and Colombia to Macquarie Asset Management, a deal announced in February as being worth $952 million.

IHS noted the sale signals its exit from the Latin America region and is part of a strategy around “shareholder value-creation”.

Macquarie noted the transaction includes 8,700 sites in Brazil and 250 in Colombia, strengthening its position as a “long-term investor in the digital infrastructure sector” and “supporting the growth of critical infrastructure across Latin America”.

The investment company’s Brazil country manager Fernando Lohmann added the market he heads “continues to be one of the most attractive infrastructure markets globally, supported by growing demand for connectivity and long-term investment in critical services.”

“As digitalisation accelerates across Brazil and the broader region, resilient communications infrastructure will play an increasingly important role in supporting economic growth and social development”.

Completion of the sale comes as operator group MTN continues to work towards an acquisition of IHS Towers, a company it already owned around a quarter of before announcing its intent for a complete buyout in February.  

The deal with MTN is still undergoing the regulatory process. Earlier this week, IHS shareholders formally approved the takeover bid at the company’s extraordinary general meeting.  

In a stock market notification today (7 August), the operator group noted the sale of the IHS’s Latin American assets aligned with its intention “to acquire only IHS’s African assets”.

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Senior MTN Group executives promoted the potential pan-African economic benefits of digitalisation during a meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), moves they inevitably argued are boosted by the operator’s broad footprint.

MTN president and CEO Ralph Mupita (pictured, third from right) emphasised the importance of the operator group’s scale and global clout during the meeting with IMF first deputy MD Dan Katz (pictured, centre) and various of their staff.

The conflab formed part of broader talks Katz is holding with South African authorities and private sector players.

Mupita said wide-reaching collaborations can speed “Africa’s digital transformation” and Katz’ visit is an “opportunity to engage constructively with the IMF leadership”.

The executive explained “the discussion centred on the macroeconomic outlook across our key markets of South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana”.

“In particular, we discussed the power of the digital economy to drive sustainable growth across the continent.”

MTN highlighted it is working to boost digitalisation through its Ambition 2030 programme, which includes goals of broadening consumer and business access to connectivity, expanding fintech services, and extending the reach of fibre and availability of AI data centres.

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MTN Group Fintech signed a deal with Ant International to collaborate on a so-called super-app platform covering a range of lifestyle and commerce services based around the operator’s mobile money platform.

The MTN unit hailed the agreement with the financial technology specialist as a major step in its attempts to build a more resilient and future-ready digital ecosystem across its markets.

Nigeria will be first country to see the results of the pact with a “super-app” platform set to be launched there in Q3 intended to deepen digital inclusion and provide the basis for a range of mobile money-linked services.

It is expected to significantly enhance MTN customers’ mobile money experience in Nigeria, delivering faster transactions, improving reliability, and providing greater integration with other financial and commerce services.

The operator unit explained using Ant’s technology provides the means for it to evolve its product by means including fraud prevention measures and “richer engagement features for consumers and merchants”.

MTN Group president and CEO Ralph Mupita (pictured) said the “partnership aligns” with the company’s “ambition of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress by leveraging scale, technology and strong global partnerships”.

He added it aims to deliver a “more seamless, secure and intuitive MoMo platform that advances digital inclusion and expands economic participation”.

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