The West African Regional Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, has renewed calls for the swift passage of a national competition law to safeguard the sustainability of the planned AT Ghana–Telecel restructuring.
His comments follow government’s announcement that AT Ghana (formerly AirtelTigo) and Telecel Ghana will be restructured into what officials described as a stronger and more resilient telecom operator.
At a press briefing in Accra on Friday, the Minister of Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, explained that the arrangement was neither a merger nor an acquisition, but rather a force majeure intervention aimed at stabilising the sector.
Mr. Adomako warned that without a robust competition framework, the new entity risks facing the same challenges that undermined AirtelTigo’s operations.
“This merger is very good; however, if we don’t have a competition law to address the issue of dominance and unfair trade practices, this merger could become more like that of AirtelTigo, where we didn’t see any reasonable outcome,” he cautioned.
Industry stakeholders have long argued that a competition law is critical to regulating anti-competitive behaviour, ensuring fair pricing, and protecting consumers in Ghana’s telecom market, which is dominated by a few major players.
