Selorm Adadevoh - Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana
Chief Executive of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, has revealed that since the government declared his company a Significant Market Player (SMP), foreign investors have become nervous.
Speaking to journalists recently during a virtual forum in Accra, Mr Adadevoh said the SMP declaration by the National Communications Authority (NCA) has rattled investor confidence about the stability of their investments in telecoms giant.
“About 70% of our investors are foreigners and they have been calling us since this SMP declaration was made. Foreign investors usually go where there is stability so anything that signals a potential risk to their investment create problems for everybody,” he is quoted as saying in a report by techgh24.com.
He said MTN Ghana has, however, done a good job to reassure investors that there are efforts to ensure that their investments remain safe.
The National Telecommunications Policy of 2004 states that the National Communications Authority (NCA) reserves the right to establish what constitutes an SMP, but where the NCA has not made any such determination, any player holding at least 40% market share will be deemed as an SMP.
Least market share MTN has held since it entered the country is 45% plus.
With 23.9 million voice subscriptions, MTN Ghana controls 57% of the subscriber market share in Ghana, far ahead of Vodafone, AirtelTigo, and Glo at 21.97%, 20.3%, and 1.75% respectively.
Upon the declaration of MTN as SMP, therefore, the NCA went straight into motion to start implementing the Sections 20 (8 – 10) and 25 (2) of the Electronic Communications Act, Act 775, 2008 to “correct the imbalance” in the market.
The NCA issued MTN with notice of remedies it intends to implement, which included MTN eliminating the price differentials between on-net and off-net calls and also keeping its tariffs at a certain high, so that the other telcos can give lower tariffs and be competitive.
Speaking at the virtual event, Selorm Adadevoh stated that while MTN seeks redress in the apex court, after failing to secure a judicial review of the SMP declaration at the High Court, it is also engaging with the appropriate stakeholders to reach an amicable solution preferred by all parties.
“We are still talking to the key stakeholders on the matter and if we reach an amicable solution, we will opt for that than to keep pursuing the legal angle,” he said.
