MTN Ghana cleared to trade publicly in May

The largest mobile telecommunications company in Ghana, MTN Ghana, has announced it has been approved by the regulatory bodies to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange by the end of May this year.

“On 20th April 2018, we received all required regulatory approvals to proceed with the IPO and expect to make the offer available in late May 2018”,a press statement from the telco read.

The company had announced earlier this year that it had submitted its prospectus to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to float 35 percent of its shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange. It hinted it was going to list in March but it later announced the listing would be done in June rather.

But the company in its first quarter statement indicated it is ready and its “priority will be to facilitate a broad base of local Ghanaian shareholders who can share in the risks and rewards of ownership of MTN Ghana”.

Commenting on the success of the company in the first quarter of the financial year, MTN Group Vice President for Southern and East Africa and Ghana and the current CEO of MTN Ghana, Ebenezer Asante said, “I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter and look forward to the listing of MTN Ghana on the GSE. We have worked diligently to complete all regulatory requirements and are finalising internal processes to enable us to successfully execute the IPO.”

The first quarter performance of the company saw a revenue growth of 29.3% year on year, led by a 51.5% increase in data revenue. MTN Mobile Money stood out accounting for 15% of the company’s total revenue. The subscriber base has also increased by 484 000 and MTN Mobile Money active users also increased by 800,000.

Background

In 2015, MTN Ghana won a bid for a 4G licence in the 800 MHz spectrum. Under the terms of the licence, the National Communications Authority (NCA) required MTN Ghana to offer Ghanaian investors an opportunity to own part of its shares. The listing is considered by the NCA as a mechanism to meet this requirement.

The company has since been going through the processes to trade publicly on the Ghana Stock Exchange with several changes in the launching date.