Helios to invest $100m in South Africa
January 16, 2019
By Chris Forrester
Helios Towers, an infrastructure player already present in Tanzania, the Congo, and Ghana, says it is ready to invest $100 million providing new telecoms connectivity in South Africa over the next 3-4 years.
Helios (66 per cent) is linking with Vulatel (34 per cent) in a new business, Helios Towers South Africa (HTSA).
Kash Pandya, CEO at Helios, told South Africa’s Tech Central, that it would build open access infrastructure which it would then lease to other companies.
He said there are some 30,000 existing towers in South Africa but less than 10 per cent were with independent towers companies. Pandya added that the $100 million was an indicative figure.
Last year Helios pulled an IPO citing the depressed market, but Pandya said that Helios had grown 20 per cent year-on-year growth over the past 3 years. “The shareholders felt there was no point in losing value in a climate where equity markets were in turmoil.”