The West Africa Regional Director of the Consumer Unity and Trust Society, CUTS International, Lawyer Appiah Kusi Adomako is calling on the government to impose more taxes on MTN and other companies raking in above-average profits in the country.
Mr. Adomako Appiah describes the recent profit MTN accrued as a supra-normal profits hence the need for what he calls as windfall taxes on the South African-owned telecommunication multinational.
The consumer protection advocate argues that the declaration of MTN Ghana as the most dominant player in the country’s telecom sector i.e. Significant Market Power (SMP) by the National Communications Authority implies MTN can charge higher for its services and products relative to other players.
This status, Mr. Adomako believes is leading to huge profits hence the need for the government to impose windfall taxes and benefit from the huge earnings of the company.
“Ghana needs windfall taxes to tax the supra-normal profits of some companies like MTN. MTN for example has been described as SMP meaning MTN has to sell its products higher than its competitors,” Lawyer Appiah Adomako Kusi wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Windfall taxes are taxes imposed on businesses that record above-normal profits due to favorable market conditions. Such taxes are ways to redistribute wealth and ensure that dominant companies raking in more profits contribute more to the country’s economic growth.
MTN Ghana reported a profit before tax of GH¢3.3 billion for the first half of 2024, up 36.6% from GH¢2.4 billion in June 2023. The company’s total revenue increased by 31.1% to GH¢8.1 billion from GH¢6.1 billion during the same period last year, according to its financial report for the six months ending June 2024. MTN attributes this revenue growth to higher data usage, mobile money, and digital revenue, driven by “enhanced 4G connectivity and a 3.9% year-on-year expansion in the subscriber base.”
