The Minority caucus has issued a formal demand regarding recent developments in Ghana’s telecommunications industry, specifically concerning the status of AT Ghana, the country’s only wholly Ghanaian-owned telecom company.
The MP for Kpandai, Mathew Nyindam who led the news conference kicked against any form of consolidation, acquisition, or merger transactions involving AT Ghana, requesting a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry into the circumstances and terms of these proposed consolidations, including full disclosure of all agreements, correspondence, and reports—especially the recommendations from transactional advisors on the Afritel-Rektron deal and the optimal use of AT Ghana.
The Minority also demands a deep investigation with ATC to assess the company’s level of indebtedness and to resolve the impasses that have led to the withdrawal of services to AT Ghana.
They expressed concern over the lack of transparency and the negative impact of the Minister of Communications’ actions over the past six months and criticized the Sector Minister for causing chaos in the telecom sector, leading to revenue losses for AT Ghana and creating confusion among staff and management.
The Minority emphasized that their hesitation to speak publicly was driven by the sensitive nature of the sector and the need to protect substantial investments.
They concluded by reaffirming their commitment to informing the Ghanaian public about developments affecting AT Ghana and safeguarding the interests of the industry and the nation.
Below is the full statement:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the media.
We called you for this press conference to address an important issue which has been running for months and yet the Ghanaian still does not have a clear understanding of what is happening. As minority caucus we have hesitated in making public pronouncements on the issue because the telecommunication industry is a capital-intensive sector and we feared risking the huge investments of actors in the sector. However, conduct of the Minister of Communication and his actions over the past 6 months since assuming office has put the industry in jeopardy and has particularly diminished the value of the only wholly Ghanaian owed telecommunication company, AT. The Minister runs rampage with pronouncements that have caused chaos in the telecom sector and specifically caused the loss of revenue to AT in addition to the state of confusion that he has thrown the staff and management of AT into. The minister’s lack of corporate governance manners has not been unnoticed. So today we want to address you and inform the people of Ghana, development in respect, AT.
Ghanaian will recall that in January 2018 two private mobile network operators in Ghana – Airtel (25% government shares) and Tigo – merged and consolidated resources to improve operations, reduce operational cost and create a stronger competition. The merger created the country’s second largest mobile network operator, AT. However, the inability of the new company, AT, to invest in the much-needed infrastructure despite their competitors’ -MTN and Vodaphone (now Telecel)- investment in 4G technology was still a source of vulnerability. Thus, AT could not achieve the goal of the merger as their operations became unsustainable, hence a decision to close operations in Ghana in February 2020. Even before this, Airtel had indicated that it will consider consolidation of opportunities, including exit, in markets where it is not among the top two players.
The NPP government under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo, acutely aware that the dissolution of AT and the cessation of operations in Ghana would have caused substantial loss of jobs to many Ghanaians, at a time that the global economy was in turmoil, entered negotiation and reached agreement with AT in April 2021. The policy underpinning of the strategic move by government to acquire AT was to protect the jobs of Ghanaians, protect the competitive balance of the telecom sector, safeguard critical national digital infrastructure and enhance Ghanaian participation in the sector. The NPP government was also clear that it will source a strategic investor to turn around the operations of the acquired operator, AT. In October 2021 when the agreement was executed, government paid $1 dollar for 100% ownership of AT.
It must be noted that the current Minister, Hon. Samuel George, disputed this strategic acquisition of 100% shares for $1 and alleged that the then Minister of Communication, Hon Ursula Owusu paid some $25 million for the acquisition. The assets, customers (5.1 million), management responsibilities and liabilities were acquired for $1. In other words, the government paid $1 to save over 500 direct jobs and interest of over 5 million customers. Ironically, the Minister after 9 months in office is yet to provide evidence of the $25 million payment he alleged instead, he is trying to undo all the jobs and customers saved with a proposed give away of AT for no value. For emphasis, we wish to reiterate the NPP’s government over-arching drive, stated as “[g]iven the multiplier impact the telecommunications sector has on the economy and various related industries, the Government of Ghana has entered into this agreement to ensure that thousands of Ghanaian jobs are safeguarded,”. This was relevant then and still relevant today.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is important to note that the NPP Government did not just acquire AT without a plan of action to bring it back to competitiveness with other industry operators. As a matter of fact, Hon. Ursula Owusu in mid-2021 announced plans to recapitalize and modernise AT focusing on network expansion, digital services and rural connectivity. There was at least consensus that such strategic investment was the way forward for AT. This was also the position of the current minister of communication, Hon. Samuel George. Unfortunately, the government faced the debt crisis after COVID-19 and liquidity constraint thereby deferring the planned capitalisation of AT. This was necessary because of the government’s expenditure realignment and re-prioritisation to focus on health and other social spending.
Consequently, the NPP government engaged Deloitte Ghana in late 2022 to explore private sector capital mobilization for AT. Deloitte was to lead an an independent, transparent investor search and advise on strategic partnership options for AT. Through this, Hannam & Partners, Celsation and Afritel were, respectively, the top 3 private companies with the capacity to provide the need financial and technical support to AT for a complete turnaround. Hannam was selected with a proposal to provide US$150 million for 85% ownership of AT. This investment was for comprehensive network modernization, launch of 4G services and a long-term growth strategy for AT. Here again, Hon Samuel George was all over the media warning Hanman with his stolen good for sale analogy. The unnecessary cacophony coupled with the upcoming election occasioned the withdrawal of Hanman bid.
Ladies and gentlemen, the issues surrounding AT are not difficult to appraise. The strategic Ghanaian mobile network operator needs capital investment to make it competitive. The blueprint for capital injunction was mapped out by the previous government. Hon Samuel George in opposition and then as deputy ranking for the information and communication committee concurred with the blueprint – capital injection into AT. Fortunately, Afritel, one of top 3 is still interested in investing in AT and providing AT and by extension the government with the needed capital for operational efficiency and profitability of AT. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. There is however a troubling development in the sector which we need to bring to the fore.
Troubling Development
The current government and the Hon. Sam George since assuming office have demonstrated oscillating policy stance and have shown the lack of direction and certainty as to what they want to do with AT despite the clear, unambiguous roadmap. When the minister visited AT on Friday 2nd May 2025, he promised the staff and management that the “era of surviving against the odds” was over and that the government will substantially invest in AT to revitalise its operation, expand its capacity and unlock its potentials. Later, on 31st May 2025, Hon Sam George announced that government was negotiating with a strategic partner to revamp AT, the outcome of such negotiation was to be shared within 60 days. Before this announcement, the government had signed an MOU with Rektron on the 21st May 2025 for a 60% ownership in favour of Rektron. This was widely published on Rektron’s website with the approval of government and reported by both the Canadian Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany respectively.
While the minority hold the view that the announcement by the minister was premature and smack of hypocrisy on the back of his previous grandstanding attitude towards prior parliamentary approval of international transactions, as he argued in the case of Hannam while in opposition, we prioritized the interest of Ghana over partisanship. The minority caucus observed that the announcement and widest circulation of the news of Rektron’s participation in AT was in line with the blueprint laid down by the previous government, notwithstanding the lack of finesse and propriety with the approach by the minister. We further observed that the news of Rektron’s participation was met with renewed optimism and sense of relief across the telecom industry particularly among the AT’s customers, employees, and management. As a result, we declined to take the posturing of Hon. Sam George while he was in opposition. Our consistent position is that AT needs partner(s) with the resources to investment in requisite infrastructure in a rapidly changing industry.
Ladies and gentlemen, the minister after all these announcements, assurances to staff, and signing of MOU with Afritel/Rektron made a retreat in a press conference on 3rd July 2025 when he stated that government had contracted KPMG as transactional advisors for the deal with Afritel/Rektron. He further added that KPMG had 28 days left of the 60 days he announced on the 31st May 2025 to complete this work. The 3rd July conference was without the definiteness of the early announcement. The question is why will the minister announce an engagement when he was not sure? Why will a minister sign an MOU with 60% and 40% structure before his transaction advisors could advise? Why is the minister backtracking? Why is the minister not saying anything after the expiration of the 28 days window?
The Minister’s attempt to backtrack from the earlier position was further exposed when on 1st August 2025 he was asked about the future of AT. As if he only became aware of the office of the Attorney General, he explained that the future of AT depended on the advice and legal opinion of the Attorney General. Why is the Attorney-General’s guidance now being portrayed as a determining factor when key decisions had seemingly already been made on a strategic partnership? This explanation is in stark contrast to his earlier position especially considering that the government had already secured a strategic partner (Rektron) and appointed KPMG to oversee the transaction including negotiating a deal.
We must put on record that the minister’s deference to the Attorney General is not a surprise to us. Our unimpeachable information is that the Minister met with American Tower Company (ATC), a tower service provider to AT, and promised to pay them some US$5 million by August 2025 of the alleged GHc 1.5 billion owed by AT. The Minister has since failed to honour this promise and now using the Attorney General as a shield. Was the minister not aware of the Attorney General when he made the promise to ATC? The minister incompetence and failure to honour his promised has led to ATC withdrawing some services. In his desperate attempt to remedy his lack of corporate leadership, Hon. Sam George quickly convened a meeting and directed that AT costumers roam on Telecel’s network staring September 1. The minister’s conduct has led to an estimated loss of GHc7 million in revenue to AT in the month of September.
Fellow Ghanaians, Hon Samuel George oscillated to a position that AT will be consolidated with Telecel in a merger arrangement. He announced this at a meeting with staff and management of AT in a meeting on 3rd September 2025. The Minister had announced that KPMG had 28 days left to advise him on the form of Afritel/Rektron participation in AT and without any such briefing to Ghanaians, he was announcing a merger with Telecel – a company which has not been able to improve on its own capabilities and also in debt. In this meeting, the minister expressly conveyed an intention to abandon the Afritel/Rektron deal for a deal with Telecel. He argued that Rektron was only investing US$150 million for 5 years as against a capital of US$600 million required to attain a competitive customer market share of at least 28%. This is a façade of a reason because Rektron’s promise of US150 million is for the first year with plan investment of over US$ 1 billion. In any case Telecel is bringing on board absolutely nothing. So why will a minister abandon Afritel/Rektron for Telecel?
It defies logic and sound reasoning that the Hon Minister would consider a USD 50 million network upgrade by Telecel (though the source of funding remains unclear) after the supposed consolidation as sufficient to sustain both companies yet dismiss a USD 150 million initial (Year 1) investment and up to a total of USD 1 billion over the next five years. Such a position not only lacks consistency but also raises serious questions about the Minister’s judgment and underlying motivations behind the decision.
The minister also noted on the 3rd of September 2025 meeting that that it was government’s policy to create a duopoly with the merger of no.2 and no.3 mobile operator to create a competitor against MTN, the No. 1 player. While the minority has issues with MTN as an SMP, we do not think this policy decision makes sense. With the greatest of respect, the government cannot be actively promoting duopoly of the market and much so by giving out its assets to a private company to compete another private company. One cannot help but ask if the Minister’s push for this so-called consolidation is actually about helping the telecom sector, or is it a clever way to make MTN stronger while killing AT’s chances of survival? How do you reject a $1 billion investment proposal from Rektron, and yet celebrate a $50 million upgrade from Telecel after the supposed consolidation, with no major capital injection planned further on? Telecel itself, after promising to invest $500 million in its own operations, has reportedly done barely $10 million.
We wish to place on record that MTN’s CEO, Stephen Blewett, revealed at the GSMA Digital Africa Summit that MTN has invested $1 billion in the last five years, the same amount Rektron is committing to AT Ghana. Imagine how much success will the company witness and how much better services will Ghanaians witness from the revived company if AT was supported with proposed investment from Afritel/Rektron. So why does the Minister seem to prefer a foreign private company over our own national telecom? It simply does not add up.
The telecom market of over GHc 1.3 million per month requires competition and not duopoly which will effectively operate as a monopoly. Currently, AT has the most competitive billing rate for voice, which serves majority of low-income Ghanaians. This and many will force other companies to reduce prices. The policy of creating duopoly is bad and it is even worse when such unholy marriage is contemplated with Telecel. It would not impact positively on the industry, and the two companies are better off standing on their own.
Ladies and gentlemen, Hon Samuel George also moving away from Afritel/Rekton to Telecel because, he argued, Afritel/Rektron has no experience and technical expertise. But the minister is on record to have said that AT has the requisite expertise suggesting that AT’s problem was not technical expertise. It is common knowledge that AT’s problem is financial/capital investment. A clear example of AT’s technical prowess was seen during last year’s international undersea fibre outage, which crippled internet services nationwide. While MTN and Telecel went down, AT remained operational, keeping Ghanaians connected when it mattered most. Remarkably, AT’s engineers have managed to keep outdated and end-of-life equipment running efficiently, proving their exceptional skill and commitment despite limited resources. In any case, Afritel’s expertise is not in doubt, and it is one of the foremost companies in Africa. It came off 3rd during the Deloitte’s assessment. It cannot be ignored that Afritel bought the license of Scancom which is now MTN. Afritel together with AT have all the expertise needed for the industry. Rektron also through their publications clearly stated that when they are given the green flag to invest in AT, they will have partners like K-net, Huawei and others to have a sound planning and flawless execution for transforming AT into a successful telecom company. The use of lack expertise as a pretext is therefore not tenable.
Fellow Ghanaians, we, therefore, stand with the 300 employees and management as well as the 200 contract staff of AT who have been disappointed by the oscillating policy position and lack of direction for AT. We stand with the many staff who disapproved of the unhealth marriage or what is best described unhealthy colonisation of AT by Telecel with the active facilitation of the Minister of Communication, Hon Sam George. We stand with the many Ghanaians who believe, and rightly so, that the planned annexation of AT by Telecel will rob them of choice and the much-needed competition within the telecom space. We strongly disapprove this move.
We are not oblivious of the newfound relationship between the minister and Telecel. We take notice of the lobbying and alleged private gains this transaction presents to the minister. We take notice of MTN funding the Dzata Foundation which is linked to the minister. We equally take notice of the minister directing Telecel to sponsor the Homowo festival in his constituency for the first time, the same week he announced the supposed takeover of AT by TElecel. which event took place with the participation of the minister. We are equally not unaware of the threat the minister issues to stakeholders, industry players and staff who refuse to, as he says, “play ball”. We are equally not unmindful of the fact that any dealing with Telecel requires parliamentary approval, yet the minister behaves as if he was the law himself. We further take notice that the minister has also caused published stories on the takeover of AT by Telecel reported domestically and internationally to be pulled down due to public disapproval of it. We caution the minister to hasten cautiously.
We are aware that the minister tried to undo the backlash of the announced merger with a press conference on 5th of September 2025 where he stated emphatically stated that there was no such development taking place, adding that the situation at hand was rather a matter of force majeure. Meanwhile his own Ministry had published the news of the merger as a long-term solution on its official social media platforms just that evening after meeting the management and staffs of AT on the 3rd of September 2025.
Ladies and gentlemen, the consistency and lack of leadership, accentuated by incompetence of the minister has thrown management and staff of AT in a state of confusion. The current situation has made it increasingly clear that there are deep-seated doubts, contradictions, and confusion surrounding the entire plan for AT largely because it has been shrouded in secrecy and characterized by a glaring lack of transparency. What makes the situation even more concerning is the stark inconsistency between statements made by Telecel and the Ministry. While stakeholders are yet to have the full insight of the report on Rektron by KPMG, and recommendations on Attorney General Office as previously stated by the Minister, the Group CEO of Telecel, Moh Damush, confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg, published on 3rd October, that this move will be backed by a 50 million USD network upgrade. The Bloomberg’s story was shared by ‘Telecel Group’ linkedln page but has since been deleted just like the Ministry own page announcement of the merger and subsequent pull down of the story. The legitimate question is why would both the Ministry and Telecel make public announcements about the merger and then delete them soon after?
Minority Objection to deal with Telecel
As a caucus, we wish to unequivocably object to any deal with Telecel by way of merger, absorption, acquisition or whatever a term the minister seeks to place on such “unholy alliance”. We object on grounds that it is a scheme to dispose of a national asset to fill private pockets. It is technically, operationally and financially unconscionable transaction. We reiterate that Telecel has no exclusive expertise that the staff and management of AT do not possess. Telecel promised during the acquisition of Vodaphone to invest US$500 million was not honoured and same fate awaits AT should the government agrees to any merger or alliance. Telecel has indebtedness of over US$ 400 million.
It is our reasonable believe that Telecel only seeks to benefit from the over 3 million customers of AT and only seeks to sour their customer base to over 10 million without cost. We believe that Afritel/Rekton participation will position AT to outperform Telecel and it is impropriated to surrender the capacity of AT, a state-owned company, to a private company by majority ownership. We object to the transaction because there is no clear plan of safeguarding jobs and livelihood of several thousands of people by the promoters.
Safeguarding AT
AT is a strategic national asset which was acquired to promote a certain goal. As noted earlier, the objectives for the acquisition were to protect the jobs of Ghanaians, protect the competitive balance of the telecom sector, safeguard critical national digital infrastructure and enhance Ghanaian participation in the sector. These objectives are still relevant and worth pursuing.
By safeguarding AT, we are protecting 300 employees, 200 contract staff and over 10,000 indirect employments in line with the objective of the acquisition of AT by government. Even though Hon. Sam George noted that Telecel has agreed to absorb the 300 full-time employees, there are no assurances and comfort from Telecel regarding this except their focus on adding on AT’s customers to their base. The fate of the 200 contract staff will be in limbo same as the over 10,000 indirect jobs comprising of freelancers (over 1,500), small-scale vendors, distributors (and their employees) among others. For instance, if AT is not safeguarded, hundreds of small-scale vendors who sell airtime credit and operate mobile money services under AT’s brand are expected to lose their primary source of income. Similarly, the operations of distributors will no longer be required since the merged entity will restructure and streamline distribution channels because distributors are structured to operate on a telecom-by-telecom basis, meaning that each Mobile Network Operator has its own exclusive set of distributors.
The plan merger of AT also has impact on the World Bank funded $50 million project – the Digital Infrastructure Venture (DIV) Project. The $50 million World Bank–funded initiative, implemented through Ghana’s Ministry of Communications, was a landmark project designed to expand high speed government connectivity across the country. The initiative successfully linked up over 900 district centres, hospitals, police stations, post offices, and other key public institutions, thereby strengthening government service delivery and bridging digital gaps. A critical feature of this project is that its infrastructure was interconnected with AT’s network sites, which formed the backbone for its nationwide coverage. A shut down under the pretext of force majeure means the DIV project ceases to exit. The implications of this are that the over 900 service centres will lose a dedicate and reliable high-speed links to support their operation and thereby widening the public service delivery gap in the country.
Lastly, we need to safeguard AT to promote competition. At a time that the industry requires antithrust regulation and at the time the regulator is expected to implement antithrust regulation including imposing rules on the SMP on pricing and infrastructure sharing, the plan move by government to collapse AT is not appropriate. A policy of telecom duopoly will constrain the welfare of options of consumers will be limited. Currently AT has the lowest standard billing for voice and thus brings on board many low-income users of telecom services. Why will any government contemplate collapsing such a company?
Revisit the 2022 Blueprint
Ladies and gentlemen, we suggest to the government to revisit the blueprint which formed the basis for engagement with Afritel/Rektron. Fortunately, Afritel/Rektron has secured US$150 million which has been ringfenced and locked down for the past 4 months for the purposes of this transaction with a promised of US$ 1 billion funding in the next 5 years. This is adequate capitalization according to the minister’s own estimate. There is evidence that Afritel/Rekton participation secure over 20% of market share participation for AT. Therefore there is no justification for the minister backtracking after initially agreeing unless they are not “playing ball”.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we ask the President, H.E John Dramani Mahama to reign in his minister for communication to focus on making AT work rather than hastily trying to dispose it off. To this end, a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the proposed acquisition of AT by Telecel is imperative considering the growing inconsistencies, secrecy, and conflicting narratives surrounding the transaction, and in the interest of protecting Ghana’s strategic national assets and the long-term viability of the telecommunications sector. It’s troubling that Hon. Samuel George who was once an outspoken critic of his predecessor for the way state assets were handled is now presiding over a worse process that appears to be taking place behind closed doors, without proper consultation, scrutiny, or parliamentary oversight. We wish to make it clear that we will not sit idly by and allow a single Minister to unilaterally dispose of a critical national asset such as AT. The strategic importance of this company to our national infrastructure, digital sovereignty, and economic development cannot be overstated.
We understand that Telecel’s Group CEO, Moh Damush, has been in the country recently, supposedly making concerted efforts to finalise what many view as a questionable deal. In an apparent attempt to strengthen their position and gain goodwill, Telecel has partnered with the government on a series of public initiatives aimed at drawing attention from the President and other key decision-makers. As part of this effort, Telecel just last week collaborated with the Ministry of Health to support the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Fund), through which they donated cervical cancer screening equipment to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Similar donation ceremonies are also scheduled to take place in Tamale and at the Sefwi Wiawso Government Hospital in the coming days.
We are also sending a strong and unequivocal caution to the Telecel Group that any attempt to acquire a strategic state asset through unlawful, non-transparent, or irregular means will not only lack legitimacy but will also attract severe consequences in the future. The people of Ghana and the next government of the NPP will not sit idly by while a vital national asset is handed over under questionable circumstances. Any deal shrouded in secrecy, executed without due parliamentary scrutiny, or in violation of procurement and regulatory standards will be subject to future review, reversal, and possible legal action. We further remind Telecel that state assets are held in trust for the people of Ghana — not for the benefit of private interests or political expediency. Any company that chooses to be complicit in such an irregular transaction should be prepared to face reputational damage, legal scrutiny, and the potential nullification of any agreement entered under such circumstances Further, it is our position that the whole transaction is unconscionable and failure to desist from engaging is at Telecel’s own risk.
This is not merely about the sale of a company; it is about protecting a national institution that has served Ghana diligently, nurtured some of the finest talent in the industry, and proven its strategic importance in moments of national crisis. Together — industry veterans, current staff, policymakers, and the highest office of the land — we must act decisively to ensure that AT remains in the hands of Ghanaians and continues to serve as a cornerstone of our digital and economic future. Given these realities, the Minority firmly believes that any decision regarding the future of AT must be subjected to full parliamentary scrutiny.
Our Demands
We are, therefore, demanding:
An immediate stop to the current consolidation/acquisition/merger transaction.
A comprehensive parliamentary inquiry into the circumstances and terms of the proposed consolidation.
Full disclosure of all agreements, correspondence, and reports, including the transactional advisor’s recommendations on Afritel-Rektron, highest and best use of AT Ghana.
A high-powered deep insight with ATC to ascertain the level of indebtedness and settle the impasses the have led to the withdrawal of services to AT.
Thank you for coming God bless our homeland Ghana.
