Airtel Africa PLC (LSE:AAF) received its first payment of US$159mln from selling its mobile phone tower assets in Tanzania.
The US$176.1mln sale of the 1,400 or so Tanzanian towers was agreed in June. The buyer was a joint venture owned by US-based SBA Communications Corp and UK-based Paradigm Infrastructure Limited.
The balance of the sale payment will be made in instalments once the transfer of the remaining towers is completed.
Airtel said around US$60m of the proceeds will be used to invest in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the government of Tanzania, with the balance used to reduce group debt.