Soros firm in Nigerian telecom dispute

A British newspaper reported that a private equity firm backed by George Soros, is currently in a dispute with the Nigerian government over mobile phone towers in the country.

According to the UK’s Telegraph, Helios Investment Partners, currently headed by former Texas Pacific Group executives, has been building telecom mobile towers in Africa for the past 7 years.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has called their success a model for other investors in Africa, after it secured a $250 million deal with the private hand of the World Bank.

After the deal, Soros, Lord Rothschild and Madeline Albright became interested in investing a further $350 million in the Helios Towers Africa fund to “replicate the success of Nigeria.”

Now this contract is apparently under attack after a mobile company that rents the towers said the agreement is not valid.

Multi-Links, owned by South Africa’s Telkom, told Helios Towers that it is under no obligation to pay rent or a termination fee years after the masts were built. The company is about three years into its 10-year contract.

Analysts are uncertain of what to make of the dispute, saying that from what they see, at least in Nigeria, the deal was safe and everything has apparently run smoothly.

“Maybe there is something that we are not understanding at this point yet, but hopefully soon because if there is something amiss here, it could put the World Bank in a precarious position,” said Mohamed Khan, a Pakistani telecom consultant currently in Lagos.

By David Eto