Standard Bank has provided African telecommunications tower operator Helios Towers with a US$29-million (R475-million) documentary credit facility – the first the bank has structured in a sustainable finance format.

The facility will fund the procurement and importation of telecoms infrastructure and related services across Africa, while providing payment certainty to Helios Towers’ suppliers and supporting the company’s working capital needs and infrastructure expansion programme.

Structured in line with the Loan Market Association’s Social Loan Principles, the financing is aimed at expanding mobile network coverage in underserved markets and remote regions on the continent.

Helios Towers operates one of Africa’s largest independent tower platforms, leasing infrastructure to mobile operators to help them extend coverage efficiently across multiple markets. The facility will support tower expansion, network densification and improved connectivity in areas where communications infrastructure remains thin.

“This transaction demonstrates the power of innovation in trade finance,” said Benoit Samouilhan, global transaction banker at Standard Bank Corporate & Investment Banking, in a statement on Wednesday. “By combining a first-to-market social documentary credit facility with a cross-border funding solution, Standard Bank has supported Helios Towers’ growth ambitions while helping extend digital connectivity to underserved communities across Africa.”

‘Fundamental’

Helios Towers group finance director Alex Carter said reliable digital infrastructure is “fundamental to Africa’s future growth and development”.

“This facility provides us with the flexibility and certainty needed to support our ongoing infrastructure investments while advancing our mission of expanding connectivity across the continent,” Carter said. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media