Communications Minister Warns Against Use of Nigerian DStv Decoders, Moves to Curb Cross-Border Piracy
Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Samuel Nartey George, has urged Ghanaians using Nigerian DStv decoder boxes to switch back to Ghanaian-approved decoders, warning that the practice is depriving the country of critical tax revenue.
“DSTV decoders from Nigeria to Ghana have denied the country tax revenue and led to the decline of local content creation. The ministry will work with stakeholders to tackle cross-border piracy,” Mr George stated at a press conference in Accra on Monday, September 29.
He further described the government as a “reset government” and called on subscribers to “reset” their decoder choices. “Let’s reset our Nigerian decoder boxes and reconnect our Ghanaian decoder boxes,” he added.
The Minister also disclosed that government would collaborate with MultiChoice Ghana to deactivate “ghost boxes” unauthorized decoders smuggled into the country.
This development comes on the back of Mr George’s earlier directive to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to set up a stakeholder committee to evaluate DStv pricing in Ghana.
The committee, which began work on September 8, 2025, is expected to present its report to the Ministry today, September 29. Its mandate includes developing a shared understanding of DStv pricing, proposing commercially viable solutions to pricing concerns, and drafting a roadmap to curb cross-border piracy of DStv services from Nigeria into Ghana.