Infrastructure sharing is like building a big house in a prime location then appointing a real estate firm to divide it into several apartments. You keep the penthouse for yourself, and then that real estate firm leases out the apartments to multiple tenants, creating far more value than if you just rattled about in that big house on your own.
The sale and leaseback of towers to specialist independent tower companies is not a new phenomenon of course – it’s a widespread practice in Europe, the US and India, but the volume of infrastructure sharing transactions in Africa is increasing.
