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15 June 2016; Lagos, Nigeria: IHS Towers (“IHS”), the largest mobile telecommunications infrastructure provider in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, has won EMEA Finance’s 2015 award for the best telecommunication deal during the publication’s annual project finance award ceremony held at One Whitehall Place, the Royal Horseguards Hotel in central London.
IHS won the best telecoms deal award in relation to the Nigeria power system upgrade project which is focused on the roll out of new integrated alternative energy solutions and includes state of the art solar panels, deep cycle batteries and new DC diesel generators. IHS is focused on reducing fuel consumption as well as its carbon footprint throughout its portfolio and has invested over $500 million for the new power system deployment. The project started earlier this year and is to be completed by early 2017. Upon completion, each reconfigured site will also be connected to one of two Network Operating Centres in Lagos and Abuja and will be monitored 24 hours, seven days a week.
Christopher Moore, Publisher & CEO of EMEA Finance Magazine, "IHS Towers is no stranger to EMEA Finance's awards. Over the past several years the company has been recognised for its impressive funding activities and market leading acquisitions and transactions. In 2015, the company was busy enhancing its infrastructure, working to increase efficiency and making its equipment more environmentally friendly"
Of course, going green requires capital investment. IHS Towers was able to secure an important line of credit from its Nigerian lenders, which include among others, Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Citibank and Ecobank, to upgrade the existing power systems to specialised DC hybrid power systems which reduce overall operating costs. Congratulations to both the company and lenders alike on this important project finance deal and significant operational enhancement for the company.
Issam Darwish, Executive Vice Chairman & Group CEO of IHS, "We’re currently heavily investing in R&D and rolling out various new green energy projects throughout our portfolio in order to reduce our diesel consumption while ensuring our tower uptime continues to match our industry standard of over 99 percent. We’re focused on becoming almost diesel neutral where possible, using a combination of on- and off-grid solutions, and are working with the world’s best power system suppliers and engineering firms to achieve these goals. We’re delighted to receive this award and for the team to be recognized for its hard work and dedication to delivering the best value for mobile operators in Africa".
This is the ninth year that EMEA Finance Magazine has recognised landmark transactions in the project finance area. The awards recognise excellence in deal-making, and highlight outstanding deals lead by project sponsors, financiers and professional advisers.
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