Selling Picks in a Digital Gold Rush
So, how does one play this? Well, you could try to pick the next big Nigerian tech startup, but that feels a bit like betting on a single horse in the Grand National. A far more pragmatic approach, I’d argue, is to bet on the people selling the picks and shovels. In the 21st century, that means telecommunications infrastructure. Companies like IHS Holding and American Tower Corporation are essentially the landlords of the digital age. They build and manage the mobile towers that every single phone call, text message, and video stream depends on. As millions more Lagosians come online, these firms are positioned to collect a little bit of rent from all of them. It’s a wonderfully simple, if unglamorous, way to get exposure to the digital revolution.