Helios Towers is capitalizing on the explosive demand for mobile data services across Africa and the Middle East, with a sharpened focus on improving its tenancy ratio and maximizing infrastructure utilization.
According to CEO Tom Greenwood, the company’s operations in nine high-growth markets—eight in Africa and one in the Middle East—are benefiting from mobile penetration rates that still lag behind Europe, offering significant room for expansion. While mobile phone usage in Europe averages 90%, it hovers around 50% across Africa. Subscriber growth is at about 5% annually, with data consumption projected to quadruple over the next five years in the region.
“Our business is driven by structural growth,” Greenwood explained. “As data usage increases, so does the need for mobile infrastructure.”
Helios currently operates 14,417 sites across Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Oman. Its average tenancy ratio has increased to 2.09 tenants per site, and the company is on track to meet its 2.2x target by 2026. Revenue for Q1 2025 rose 5% to $203.8 million, with adjusted EBITDA up 9% to $111.1 million.
Greenwood emphasized that Helios is committed to organic growth, with no plans for new market entries or M&A at this time. “There’s so much demand where we are now, that’s keeping us busy.”
Helios forecasts 2,000–2,500 tenancy additions in 2025, with full-year adjusted EBITDA of $460–$470 million, and capex of $150–$180 million. The towerco is also backed by $5.3 billion in contracted revenues, 99% of which comes from multinational mobile network operators.
Source: Anne Morris, Contributing Editor, Light Reading – lightreading.com
