TowerXchange forecasts that independent towercos will own or manage and market 30% of Africa’s towers by the end of 2014
As African telecom markets liberalise and mature, towers cease to be a source of competitive differentiation. There is a valuation incentive for operators first to market to sell their towers.
Towercos worldwide have been proved more efficient at managing towers than telecom operators. The capital markets recognise this, rewarding the split between passive infrastructure and the retail risk of customer-facing telecoms by increasing valuations of separated entities.
So as the independent towerco business model becomes more proven in Africa, more towers come to market, more capital is raised by towercos, and the pace of transactions accelerates.
