By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Etisalat Nigeria on Thursday said it will sell 2,136 of its towers to Nigeria’s telecom service providers HIS Plc and lease them back as part of plans to expand its coverage in the country which  will leave IHS owning and managing over 6,540 towers in Nigeria.

According to agency reports,a statement from Etisalat Nigeria said that the transaction is expected to close later this year; Reuters had reported last year that the deal might raise about $400 million.

According to the report, under terms of the agreement, IHS is committed to investing a further $100 million in the towers, on areas such as advanced generators and efficient batteries.

The report affirmed that building and maintaining mobile communications towers in Africa is typically more expensive than in other regions because of security costs and electricity shortages; which has increasingly prompted operators to sell or lease towers to specialist firms.