At a Glance
- El-Rufai’s IHS Towers stake rose $4.05 million in 2025, hitting a total value of $7.7 million.
- IHS shares climbed 110.7% in 2025, boosting market capitalization to $2.31 billion.
- IHS manages over 39,000 towers worldwide, with recent expansions in Brazil and Africa.
Independent non-executive director and one of Nigeria’s foremost telecom investors Bashir Ahmad El-Rufai, has seen the value of his stake in IHS Towers, grow to $7.7 million, fueled by a steady rise in the company’s share price on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) amid renewed investor confidence and improving market stability in emerging-market telecom stocks.
El-Rufai holds a 0.003 percent stake in the telecom infrastructure company, amounting to 1,084,516 shares, reflecting his role in shaping Africa’s telecommunications landscape.
Data collected by Shore Africa shows that since the start of 2025, the market value of his holdings has surged by $4.05 million, extending earlier gains and reinforcing the year’s broader upward trend.
This rebound follows a challenging 2024, when a 33.49 percent drop in share value erased $1.6 million from his stake.
The sharp recovery in 2025 not only restores those losses but also underscores both his growing wealth and his enduring influence in the continent’s telecom sector.
El-Rufai’s IHS kicked off 2025 on a positive note
IHS Towers, founded by Darwish in 2001, is now the world’s third-largest independent telecom tower operator, managing over 39,000 towers across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
In 2025, the company ramped up its expansion efforts, adding 385 tenants, securing 1,566 lease amendments, and constructing 207 new towers, 136 of which are in Brazil.
IHS Towers posted revenue of $872.9 million for H1 2025, marking a 2.32 percent year-on-year increase driven by strong organic growth, lease escalations, and new tenant additions.
IHS shares surges 110.7% in 2025
Since the start of the year, IHS Holdings’ share price has surged 110.68 percent, rising from $3.37 at the start of the year to $7.1 at the time of writing.
This has lifted the company’s market capitalization up to roughly $2.31 billion, leading to significant gains for shareholders—including Ahmad El-Rufai.
The gains have boosted El-Rufai’s stake in IHS by $4.05 million, rising from $3.66 million at the start of the year to $7.7 million.
A co-founder and former president of Intercellular Nigeria Limited, El-Rufai remains a prominent figure in Nigeria’s telecom infrastructure sector, serving as its chairman and previously as vice chairman and corporate advisor in 2009.
IHS Towers’ stock has had a strong run in 2025, climbing by more than 110 percent so far this year.
