Helios Towers bets big on Congo with $110m expansion push amid Africa’s data boom

Helios Towers is planning to invest $110 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the telecom infrastructure company moves to strengthen its position in one of Africa’s fastest-growing mobile markets.

The company said the investment will support the construction of several hundred new telecom tower sites across the country, where millions of people still lack access to mobile network services.

Tom Greenwood, the company’s chief executive officer described Congo as one of the company’s most important markets among the nine African countries where it operates. According to him, rising demand for internet services, smartphone usage and mobile connectivity continues to make the country attractive for long-term investment.

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Greenwood said Congo consistently ranks at the top of Helios Towers’ investment priorities because of the huge growth opportunities in the telecom sector.

The expansion comes at a time when Africa is witnessing a rapid increase in mobile data consumption. Industry projections show that mobile data use across the continent could quadruple within the next five years as more people gain internet access and adopt digital services.

In Congo, the growth is expected to be even faster due to increasing smartphone penetration and the expansion of digital platforms such as mobile banking, streaming and online services.

Helios Towers entered Congo in 2011 and currently operates around 3,000 telecom towers in the country. The market has become a major source of income for the company, contributing more than one-third of its $854 million revenue in 2025.

The strong performance helped push the company’s shares to record highs recently after it upgraded expectations for additional tenants across its tower network.

The company’s latest expansion also aligns with broader investment trends across Africa’s telecom sector. Major operators including Vodacom Group, Bharti Airtel and Orange have continued to increase spending on network infrastructure, especially for 5G services that require more tower sites and stronger antenna capacity.

Beyond telecom infrastructure, Helios Towers is also exploring ways to improve electricity supply to remote tower locations in Congo. The company is currently in discussions with the country’s national electricity utility to expand grid connections to underserved areas.

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Greenwood said the plan follows a similar partnership previously implemented in Tanzania, where the company worked with state power utility Tanesco to extend electricity infrastructure alongside telecom expansion projects.

The move could help reduce dependence on diesel generators, solar systems and hybrid batteries that currently power many remote telecom towers.

Despite rising global energy prices caused by geopolitical tensions, Greenwood said the company remains protected from major financial pressure because existing customer contracts allow fuel-related costs to be passed on to telecom operators.

The latest investment further highlights growing investor confidence in Africa’s digital infrastructure sector as demand for faster internet access and wider network coverage continues to rise across the continent.