Ghana’s biggest telecommunication company, MTN, may be seen as reaping the benefits of years of investments and innovation; however, interestingly, its extreme dominance is emerging as a national security threat.
With the South African-owned company’s numbers in Ghana, imagine waking up one morning to find you can’t make calls, send money, browse the internet, or even order food because your network is down.
For experts, a situation like this is not just an inconvenience; it is a serious national emergency.
On the back of the purported merger between AirtelTigo and Telecel, though debunked by the government, an economist and lawyer, Appiah Kusi Adomako, is calling for a relook at the country’s telecommunication sector’s structure, which has serious consequences on security.
MTN: The King of Ghana’s Telecoms Sector
For decades, MTN has poured money, energy, and foresight into Ghana’s telecom sector, leaving rivals struggling to keep pace. With unmatched network reach and brand loyalty, MTN is now the undisputed king of voice, data, and mobile money.
Its market dominance even earned it the tag of Significant Market Player (SMP) under Ghana’s Electronic Communications Act.
Currently, MTN holds a whopping 73.87 percent market share, while AT controls a meagre 7.82 percent, and Telecel manages just 18.3 percent. Even when the shares of AT and Telecel are combined, they do not even account for 30% of MTN’s holdings.
Although Elon Musk’s Starlink is trying to make inroads in the local data market, the West African Regional Director of CUTS International observes that, “, its high setup costs restrict access.”
When Dominance Becomes Dependency
But on the flipside of MTN’s success is a growing overdependence. Appia Kusi Adomako observes that, at present, Ghana’s economy, government services, and everyday life are tethered to a single operator.
This overdependence means that a major outage at MTN could paralyze mobile money transactions, stall businesses, and even disrupt vital state services. In other words, the nation’s digital heartbeat is dangerously reliant on one giant.
“Its overwhelming dominance also poses risks. In today’s economy, voice, data, and mobile money are lifelines. A major outage at MTN would disrupt business, government services, and everyday life,” Appiah Kusi Adomako noted in a policy brief copied to The High Street Journal.
National Security on the Line
For the consumer protection advocate, telecommunications are no longer a luxury; they are lifelines. From voice and data to mobile money, Ghana’s digital economy cannot function without them.
Ghana’s situation, he believes, must raise tough questions: Should one company hold the nation’s communication infrastructure in its hands? Appiah Kusi Adomako argues that such dependence isn’t just bad for competition, it’s a national security threat.
“Overdependence on one operator can therefore become a national security concern,” he declared.
The Case for a Telecel–AT Merger
The economist believes that a possible merger of Telecel–AirtelTigo (AT) can be of significant help. According to Adomako, it will be more than a business deal. It will also be about building resilience.
A stronger second competitor could balance the scales, spread risks, and introduce real choice for consumers. For him, telecommunication today is not just about calls and texts; it is about national security. Ghana, he says, cannot afford to put all our eggs in one basket.
“Creating a second strong competitor through the Telecel–AT merger spreads this risk and builds redundancy into the system. It also underlines the need to classify telecom infrastructure as critical national assets that require legal protection,” he emphasized.
A Step Toward Digital Resilience
A merger of Telecel–AT won’t automatically dethrone MTN overnight. However, with the right measures, it could ensure Ghana isn’t just one outage away from chaos.
By injecting competition, encouraging fairer pricing, and building redundancy into the system, the merger may just rescue Ghana from the risks of single-network dominance.
As Appiah Kusi Adomako says, the ball is now in the court of the government to ensure that Ghana does not succumb to an outage of just a single telecommunication player.
