Two telecom tower companies are committing more than $200 million to DR Congo, betting that rising data use and growing demand from the mining sector will transform one of Africa’s largest underdeveloped telecom markets.

The investment comes as African internet data consumption is projected to quadruple over the next five years. With 110 million people and mobile penetration still well below saturation, DR Congo offers the scale investors want in a market where much of the network buildout remains ahead.

Eastcastle Infrastructure, a Jersey-based operator with towers in DR Congo and Nigeria, is investing another $100 million in Congo over the next 18 months after spending nearly $200 million since entering the market five years ago, CEO Peter Lewis told Semafor. London-listed Helios Towers, the country’s largest independent tower operator by reported sites, announced a $110 million investment this year. Its DR Congo chief, Maixent Bekangba, said the spending is the company’s 2026 capex for the market, up 77% from last year and its biggest annual Congo investment in five years. About a third of growing customer demand comes from Kolwezi and Lubumbashi in the southern copper-and-cobalt belt, where mines rely on connectivity to manage operations and link sites to headquarters.

The country’s growing strategic importance as a supplier of critical minerals has also helped attract foreign capital after years of investor caution, said Albert Kabeya, a telecom consultant who works with DR Congo’s telecommunications regulator. Operators are focused on data and mobile money services, which are driving revenue growth and creating incentives to extend coverage and add capacity, Kabeya said.

“I can’t think of another African market other than Nigeria where you’ve got that kind of demand,” Lewis said, noting that while most African countries build hundreds of towers annually, DR Congo and Nigeria are now building thousands.