Proparco Supports IHS Holding Limited in Successful Issuance of Dual Tranche Senior Notes Transaction

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2021, IHS Towers builds, leases and operates over 40,000 towers for its customers, most of whom are leading mobile network operators. IHS Towers provides critical infrastructure that helps facilitate connectivity across 10 markets in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, serving a combined population of approximately 750 million people.

At the time of announcing the potential Notes offering, Proparco, together with The International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF), confirmed their intention to place orders to purchase an aggregate principal amount of up to $170 million in the New Notes Offering. This was subject to the final terms and conditions of the offering and satisfaction of certain conditions precedent.

Proparco is one of the most active European development finance institutions in Africa, with 13 regional offices and more than 50% of its 2023 activities on the African continent. It acted as anchor investor for Ecobank's bond issue on the London Stock Exchange in October and has played a similar role for IHS Towers, assisting to mobilise private sector support on this transaction.

Proparco's role in this IHS Towers transaction also aligns with its own updated digital infrastructure sector strategy adopted in 2023, in which Africa remains a strategic focus.

Djalal Khimdjee, Deputy CEO of Proparco, said: ‘We are very pleased and proud to have been able to successfully support IHS Towers in this transaction alongside IFC and EAAIF. The development of the digital sector and the mobilisation of private capital, in particular via financial markets, are two of Proparco's priorities on the African continent to reduce the digital divide and inequalities in access to such basic services ‘.