IHS loses thousands of tenants in Nigeria as 9mobile exits

Nigeria’s largest telecom tower market is showing fresh signs of stress after IHS Holding Limited disclosed that struggling mobile operator 9mobile exited thousands of tower sites as part of a debt restructuring arrangement.

The tower operator said in its first-quarter 2026 earnings report that its Nigerian business recorded a net loss of 2,491 tenants from a year earlier, driven mainly by the removal of 2,576 tenants linked to a customer identified as “T2,” widely understood to refer to 9mobile.

The disclosure provides one of the clearest indications yet of the scale of 9mobile’s operational retrenchment after years of financial strain, declining subscribers and intensifying competition from larger rivals including MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa.

“IHS Towers Nigeria’s net organic tenant additions were negative 2,491 year-on-year, primarily due to the exit of 2,576 tenants associated with T2,” the company said in its earnings release.

The company added that the exits followed “an agreement for T2 to vacate certain sites” under a broader settlement tied to long-standing debt obligations expected to run through 2027.

The development highlights mounting pressure across Nigeria’s telecom industry, where operators continue to grapple with naira volatility, elevated diesel costs and rising infrastructure expenses despite strong demand for mobile and broadband services.

Tower companies generate recurring revenue by leasing infrastructure to wireless carriers. Large-scale tenant exits can weigh on earnings by reducing site utilisation and slowing future expansion plans.

Despite the tenant losses, IHS reported stronger financial performance in Nigeria during the quarter.

Revenue from the Nigerian market rose 54.8 percent year-on-year to $250.6 million, supported by lease escalations and foreign exchange reforms that improved dollar conversion. The company said the average naira exchange rate strengthened to ₦1,385 per dollar during the period, compared with ₦1,527 a year earlier.

Nigeria remains IHS’s largest market by revenue and tower count, making the performance of local telecom operators critical to the company’s long-term growth outlook.