If all goes well, AT Ghana (formerly AirtelTigo) will receive capital injection of 150 million dollars following the acquisition of 85% shares by UK-based private equity firm, Hannam Investment. The Government of Ghana holds the remaining 15% in a joint venture (JV), which is yet to be given a name.
On November 1, 2023, when government announced the Hannam Investment deal with AT Ghana, it failed to spell out the shareholding details and the amount involved. However, from reports, the government is insisting on seeing evidence of the full US$150 million before closing the deal, something which is likely to happen within the next few weeks for the investment to actually kick in.
Government’s insistence on seeing evidence of the money is against the backdrop of what happened with the Vodafone-Telecel deal, where the Vodafone Group claimed, without evidence, that the sale was an all-cash deal. And Telecel also claimed it had earmarked some US$500 million for investment into Vodafone Ghana, without showing evidence of same.
Meanwhile, the US$150 million investment into AT Ghana is expected, as per a statement from the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization to “enhance future communications, marketing materials, and branding initiatives of AT Ghana.
Even though that level of investment is still not anyway close to what AT Ghana needs to be competitive against the significant market power (SMP), of the magnitude of MTN Ghana, the ministry says it still signifies the dawn of a new era for AT and the entire telecommunication industry in Ghana.
