‎American tower firm HS Holding Ltd has completed the sale of its Rwandan operations to Paradigm Tower Ventures in a deal estimated at $274.5 million, marking its exit from the East African market after more than a decade.

The firm, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and operates as IHS Towers, views the sale of its Rwandan business as significant in enhancing shareholder value after years of successful commercial operations in East Africa.‎The deal, first announced in May this year, has allowed Africa's largest independent telecom tower operator to sell 1,467 tower sites across Rwanda to Paradigm Tower Ventures, through its investment vehicle Paradigm Infrastructure Holdings (PIH).‎The transaction makes Paradigm Rwanda’s leading independent tower operator.‎The tower sites are expected to support networks that will enable 5.3 million Rwandans to access mobile money and other digital services.‎Stephen Harris, co-founder and chairman of Paradigm, said in a statement dated October 13, 2025: “Our focus is to improve existing infrastructure to be more efficient and environmentally friendly, alongside facilitating the improvement of mobile network coverage and connectivity.”IHS Towers’ sale of its Rwanda business is part of a larger strategy to enhance shareholder value, especially after over a decade of successful commercial performance in the East African market.‎IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count and is solely focused on the emerging markets.‎The firm has over 37,000 towers across its seven markets, including Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.

‎The team has since worked with SBA to build up the new entity, Minara Towers.‎IHS Towers hosts Airtel alongside MTN on its Rwandan portfolio. ‎Since acquiring MTN Rwanda's portfolio back in 2013, and Airtel Rwanda's in 2014, IHS Towers has more than doubled the number of towers it operates, increasing stock at around 10 percent year on year.

Rwanda has over 95 percent 4G population coverage, but only around 50 per cent of people have internet access. The government is focusing on filling in white spots and densifying urban networks, while also expanding geographic coverage to more remote parts of the country.‎Rwanda represents an exciting market with high demand for shared wireless infrastructure.

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