Amida Azeez takes charge as EastCastle’s deputy MD

Months after vacating his position as CEO of IHS Rwanda, a subsidiary of IHS Towers, Azeez Amida will on September 1 resume as Deputy Managing Director at EastleCastle Infrastructure.

Amida, who, for more than seven years, was part of the finance and leadership team of IHS Towers, the world’s largest independent tower company, will now oversee the support functions of finance, human resources as well as regulatory and legal departments at EastCastle Infrastructure.

Launched in 2020 to “pursue new build-to-suit telecom tower and related infrastructure opportunities” for mobile network operators (MNOs), EastCastle’s growing enterprise extends beyond Nigeria into the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast.

In recent years, EastCastle Infrastructure team members have helped structure and complete 14 African telecoms tower acquisitions and disposals, including the sale of Eaton Towers’ operations in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Niger, and Burkina Faso to American Tower for $1.85 billion at the end of 2019.

Before his departure from IHS Towers, Amida, who had previously worked as director of financial planning and analysis at IHS Nigeria before being named CEO of HIS Rwanda, was credited with turning around the Group’s Rwanda operations by setting structures and processes that propelled the business into growth opportunities the company had never experienced in seven years.

In his year as CEO, the company, which until 2020 was a monopoly in Rwanda, added more than 250 towers, including the Airtel Rwanda sites it acquired, and more than 100 built-to-suit sites. Employing 90 direct and 30 indirect staff across the country, IHS Rwanda earned up to $50 million in annual revenue.

Amida’s optimisation of IHS Rwanda also resulted in the entity becoming the fastest growing OpCo in the IHS Group. According to industry reports, Amida’s strategy to pursue more market opportunities, despite rising competition, and incentivise existing customers to make timely payments, resulted in significant growth for the organisation.

The 38-year-old executive has said his personal key performance indicator at EastCastle would be to help set “efficient processes and grow the company.”

EastCastle Infrastructure was founded by Peter Lewis, former Group CFO; and Pankaj Kulshrestha, former Group COO of Eaton Towers. The company’s investors include the International Financial Corporation (IFC), African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), and Adenai Partners.