MTN Ghana apologises for delayed response to SA xenophobic attacks

Telecommunications giant MTN Ghana has admitted that it was late in publicly condemning the xenophobic attacks against Ghanaians and other Africans in South Africa.

Board Chairman Dr Ishmael Yamson apologised for the delay, saying the company should have issued its own statement earlier.

“I apologise that we haven’t done that,” he said in an interview with Accra-based Joy News.

He stated that MTN Ghana had no connection to the attacks and condemned them unreservedly.

“MTN Ghana is a corporate citizen of Ghana. It is not MTN South Africa,” Dr Yamson said.

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He explained that while MTN operates across several African markets, the Ghanaian subsidiary has its own corporate identity and significant local ownership and participation.

Dr Yamson noted that more than 120,000 Ghanaians are shareholders in MTN Ghana, while about 98% of its employees are Ghanaian.

According to him, these figures demonstrate the company’s strong connection to the Ghanaian economy and its responsibility towards the communities in which it operates.

Dr Yamson also disclosed that MTN Ghana plans to commit GH¢20 million to support Ghanaians returning from South Africa.

He said the board initially approved GH¢10 million as a welcome-back package but later decided to add another GH¢10 million to establish a fund to help returnees rebuild their lives.

“We’ll do it in a big way. We’ll do it in a way that will make more meaning,” he said.

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The initiative, he explained, is intended to provide practical support to affected returnees as they reintegrate into Ghana and rebuild their livelihoods.

The additional funding is expected to broaden the scope of the support beyond an immediate welcome-back gesture and create a more sustainable intervention for returnees.

Dr Yamson said the company wants the intervention to have a meaningful impact rather than serve as a symbolic response to the situation.

DR/MA

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