IHS, an African tower building Company, announced yesterday that it had acquired a total of US$522 million in debt and equity funding from various investors. The company said the capital would be used to fund expansion initiatives throughout Africa.

The Nigeria-based telecommunications infrastructure specialist disclosed in an official statement that of the US$522 million, US$280 million was gathered from International Finance Corp by way of debt. The International Finance Corp., or the IFC, is the World Bank's private sector unit. The remaining US$242 million in equity was raised from new and current shareholders. Existing shareholders included Asian sovereign wealth funds.

"IHS will draw significant benefits from its newest shareholder by having direct access to additional financial and intellectual resources," representatives of IHS said. The company said the funds will be use to support the construction of at least 1,000 towers in Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroun, and Nigeria. The company also plans to invest in the expansion of its operations to other newer markets.

The combined transactions over the past year brings the total amount of financing collected by IHS Towers to over US$1 billion.