MTN Group vowed to work constructively with IHS Towers to resolve governance issues as the companies continue to make moves to strengthen their relationship, following a spat last year.

In a joint statement, the pair outlined an aim to find a mutually agreeable solution to a governance row first raised in June 2023, with MTN hitting out at IHS’ decision to cap the operator’s voting rights at 20 per cent.

With an ownership stake of approximately 26 per cent in IHS, MTN essentially wanted more power to nominate board members, a proposal which it faced pushback on.

Strained relations led to MTN Nigeria striking a deal with American Tower for the latter to take control of 2,500 of its network sites, currently managed by a local unit of IHS, starting in early 2025.

However, signs that MTN and IHS had made progress in burying the hatchet first came last week.

The companies announced an agreement to renew and extend all Nigerian tower Master Lease Agreements until December 2032 under new financial terms. They also completed the renewal of tower management deals across 26,000 MTN sites in six African markets.

MTN CEO Ralph Mupita said that with commercial agreements in place, it looked “forward to working constructively with IHS on the outstanding governance issues”.