![]() But, it becomes interesting when more tenants start to lease space on the same tower site. With one tenant leasing space on the tower structure, return on investment for towers in the U.S. American Tower only owns/operates the tower structure and land parcel, while the rest of a tower site is owned by tenants. There is a reason why American Tower is such a huge company: cell towers are a very lucrative business. The company owned roughly 223,000 communication sites at the end of September this year (see figure below).Īmerican Tower company overview (American Tower Investor Relations) The vast majority of revenue is generated by leasing space on communication sites to tenants, such as AT&T Inc. It owns, operates and develops different types of communications real estate. American Tower business overviewĪmerican Tower is one of the world's largest REITs by market cap. But, after going through a whole lot of annual reports, I concluded that American Tower Corporation would be my main candidate. and Europe and exposure to Africa is often negligible. I have to admit that this was not easy - most companies I follow are from the U.S. So, after having read the book, I immediately started my journey looking for companies in my stock watchlist with a relatively high and growing exposure to African markets. This means that there are plenty of opportunities for companies to benefit from the increasing prosperity in this continent. But, as their income continues to grow, people can afford to save money and buy things beyond their basic needs. Currently, people in most African countries can meet their basic needs. Even (potential) economic superpowers like China and India will not achieve such rates. The Africa Development Bank Group estimates that GDP growth per capita will hover around 4% per annum through 2060. Also GDP per capita is expected to increase. But it's not only Africa's population that will grow. Rosling sketches a simplified base scenario in which the share of total world population living in Africa will grow from 15% today to more than 35% by the year 2100. According to the World Economic Forum, Africa will account for more than half of global population growth in the coming decades. ![]() So there is still some population growth ahead, but where will this come from? I initially thought that this would be Asia, but (surprise surprise) it is actually Africa that will be the main growth driver. According to projections from United Nations, worldwide population growth will slow down significantly and stabilize around the year 2100 in the 10 to 13 billion range. One of the facts that stuck with me the most is that population growth will not continue at the high pace from the past century. Rosling addresses ten human instincts that make us worry about the wrong things instead of using hard facts for our world view. For those of you who do not know this book: it uses data to show that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than most people think. I have recently finished reading a book called ' Factfullness' from the Swedish academic Hans Rosling. Prologueįirst things first: why writing a piece about American Tower and Africa? In this article I will outline American Tower's business model, the company's expansion into Africa, the financial results and future outlook, and explain why American Tower stock is very attractive at the current price levels. And if you thought things could not get any better, the stock is currently trading at attractive valuations. This will help to drive future growth and continue the impressive growth track record from the past decade. American Tower has taken advantage of this opportunity by acquiring and building cell towers in Africa at a rapid pace. The opposite is true as the African middle class is expected to boom in the coming decades which means smartphone ownership and data usage will outgrow other markets. Many people still consider Africa as a poor and weak continent that will never catch up with the 'western world'. ![]() What I especially like about this company is the increasing exposure to Africa. In my opinion, American Tower Corporation ( NYSE: AMT) is one of the best deals in the market right now. We are nearing 2023 and investors are looking for new investment ideas. ![]()
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