05 January 2022
Airtel Africa received its first payment of US$159m from selling its mobile phone tower assets in Tanzania, the operator said.
The US$176.1m sale of circa 1,400 Tanzanian towers was agreed in June last year with a buyer made up by a joint venture owned by US-based SBA Communications Corp and UK-based Paradigm Infrastructure.
The balance of the sale payment will be made in instalments once the transfer of the remaining towers is completed.
Airtel said around US$60m of the proceeds will be invested in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the government of Tanzania, with the balance used to reduce group debt.
