Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation Samuel Nartey George, has ruled out a merger or acquisition between Telecel and AT in the ongoing crisis at AT Ghana, stressing the government’s intervention is a response to “a force majeure situation.”
“The process is not a merger or acquisition but a response to a force majeure situation,” the Minister said. He urged “subscribers, suppliers, creditors and other stakeholders to await KPMG’s report, which will provide clarity on outstanding debts, services, and the future of AT Ghana.”
KPMG which has been appointed as transaction advisor has been given a strict 60-day timeline to recommend a path forward for AT Ghana, which is saddled with debts of more than US$150 million owed to tower company ATC Ghana. The review will also assess government’s shareholding in Telecel Ghana with the goal of establishing a second strong operator in the market.
The crisis deepened on September 1 when ATC disconnected power to AT’s telecom sites across the country, threatening service for more than 3 million subscribers. To avert a nationwide outage, the National Communications Authority (NCA) directed AT and Telecel to establish a national roaming agreement, migrating AT’s traffic onto Telecel’s network.
“It is important to note at this point that all of AT’s services and I’ll be clear here, voice, SMS, data and AT money remain intact,” the Minister assured. “I want to commend the exceptional skills and commitment shown by the technical teams of AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana to pull off this integration under very difficult circumstances.”
The debt dispute between AT and ATC dates back to 2020, when ATC first threatened to suspend power supply to AirtelTigo’s infrastructure. Despite interventions, the debt has ballooned, with ATC resuming disconnections this month.
“In 2021, following the exit of Bharti Airtel from Ghana, the government of Ghana acquired the shares of AT for a perverted US$1 and agreed to protect jobs and ensure the continuity of AT, as we were told. The propriety or otherwise of that decision is evident in the current state of affairs,” the Minister said.
On jobs, the Minister pledged that “the approximately 300 permanent staff of AT retain their employment. I repeat, they will retain their employment. There will be no job losses.” He added that KPMG will also review the status of over 200 contract workers.
“I’m fully aware of the gravity of the current situation on the workers, their families, and their dependents, but I remain committed on behalf of the government to protect them from any adverse situation. We will see sunshine very soon. It will happen,” he said.
