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Following the recent announcement by Bharti Airtel that it will be leaving the Ghana market, local press reports suggest that the completion of the sale of the former AirtelTigo, Airtel’s mobile communications business in Ghana, is imminent.
In fact, the government of Ghana and AirtelTigo are said to have started the final stages of discussions on the transfer of AirtelTigo shares to the government along with all of their agreed clients, assets and liabilities.
These are by no means negligible. AirtelTigo reported a customer base of 4.7 million and EBITDA of around $ 2.4 million in its fourth quarter ending in March of this year. Ghanaian press reports add that AirtelTigo offers direct and indirect employment opportunities to almost 10,000 people, one reason, presumably, why the government plans to temporarily operate this business “in the best interest of the nation.”
Another likely reason is that many other industries depend on the telecommunications sector. Therefore, as suggested by the local media, the government of Ghana has entered into this agreement for the purpose of protecting the jobs of thousands of Ghanaians.
It has only been a few years since Bharti Airtel merged with Tigo of Millicom in Ghana to become, in 2017, the second largest mobile operator in the country. Therefore, the news, which we announced last week, that Bharti Airtel will be exiting the Ghana telecom market may have come as a surprise, especially given that Ghana has been a fairly successful market for the company.
However, the exit has been explained, at least in part, by Airtel’s decision to focus on several specific markets on the continent.
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