Our story
Formed in 2009, Helios Towers has grown into one of the leading independent tower companies across Africa and the Middle East.
Through disciplined M&A and operational excellence delivered by predominantly local teams, we’ve built a diversified platform that helps MNOs roll out reliable coverage faster, at lower cost and lower carbon - connecting people, powering growth.
2025
IMPACT 2030 sets the course for the next five years.
2024
- Issued $850m public bond; delivered 2,481 tenancy additions for the year; continued uptime leadership (group record 1m16s downtime/week);
- RoSPA Silver Award;
- 58% of employees Lean Six Sigma trained.
2023
- Marked a decade of uninterrupted Adjusted EBITDA growth;
- Two consecutive quarters of record organic tenancy adds and record financial performance.
2022
- Closed Oman (2,519 sites) - first step into the Middle East;
- MSCI AAA ESG rating; added to FTSE4Good;
- Refreshed five-year Sustainable Business Strategy;
- Tom Greenwood appointed CEO.
2021
- Agreements with Airtel Africa for c.1,400 sites (Madagascar & Malawi);
- Agreement to acquire >2,500 sites from Omantel;
- First $300m convertible plus c.$110m equity; best-ever power uptime (1m10s downtime per site/week).
2020
- Signed agreement to acquire 1,200+ sites from Free Senegal
- Refinanced and raised $975m of bonds, lowering cost of debt by ~3%.
2019
- Listed on the London Stock Exchange (c.$360m float);
- Entered South Africa on a greenfield basis.
2017
Issued maiden $600m bond (9.125%).
2016
- Embedded Business Excellence company-wide;
- Acquired ~1,000 Airtel sites in DRC, accelerating rural coverage.
2015
Entered Congo Brazzaville via Airtel portfolio (~400 sites).
2014
Acquired Vodacom Tanzania’s 1,000+ sites - the first and only time the group sold an entire tower portfolio to an independent towerco.
2011
- Entered Tanzania and DRC via 1,200+ sites each from Tigo;
- Early operational excellence lifts Ghana availability from 99.2% to 99.9% in 18 months.
2010
- Pioneered Africa’s independent towerco model with the purchase of 800+ sites in Ghana;
- Initial $375m equity raised.
