MTN increases localisation threshold from 25% to 30%
MTN Ghana has announced plans to increase local ownership of the company to 30 percent – 5 percent more from the previously agreed 25 percent localisation plan with the Government of Ghana.
Per the telecom giant’s financial year results for 2021, the increased localisation of the company is for ease of implementation and to further deepen its localisation agenda.
The company however, maintained the 30% localisation of its subsidiary, MobileMoney Limited.
“MTN Ghana continues to make progress in fulfilling all agreed localisation requirements of 25% for Scancom PLC per original requirement and 30% for MobileMoney Limited. For ease of implementation and to further deepen localisation, MTN has offered to implement 30% Localisation for both Scancom PLC and MobileMoney Limited,” MTN stated.
“Our consultations with the government, the Central Bank and other relevant stakeholders continues positively, and we look forward to providing further updates on our progress in subsequent releases set quote first part,” it added.
MTN records GHS 2bn in profit
MTN Ghana, for the year ended 2021 recorded a 43.5% growth in its net profit.
Per the telecoms giant 2021 Financial Statement, net profit at end-2021 amounted to GHS 2 billion.
Total direct and indirect taxes paid by MTN during the period under review stood at GHS 2.7 million.
MTN’s revenue went up by 28% to reach GHS 7 billion as its subscriber base increased by almost 4% from 2020 to hit 25.4 million in early 2022.
On mobile money, MTN puts the subscriber base at 11 million ending December 2021.
Read: MTN records 56.3% YoY growth in data revenue
In a statement issued by the company, MTN said, “We continued to focus on innovation and diligent execution of operational strategies aided by the commitment to our people. Service revenue grew by 28.5%, driven mainly by increased investment in the network and commercial initiatives which resulted in growth of our customer base and usage across our core business,” believing it had delivered sustained growth in its core business during 2021.
The Company’s Board in view of the recorded net profit for 2021, has declared an interim dividend of GHS 0.03 per share.
Following the full year performance of the company, the Board has recommended a final dividend of GHS 0.085 per share, bringing the total dividend for 2021 to GHS 0.115 per share.
This represents 70.6% of profit after tax and a 43.8% increase in dividend per share when compared to that of 2020.
MTN implements three SMP remedies
Following the SMP designation of MTN Ghana in 2020, the National Communication Authority (NCA) directed the company to implement seven remedies. Thus, MTN Ghana says, it has defined and implemented three of them.
The three SMP remedies implemented are: the application of a 30 percent asymmetrical interconnect rate reduction for two years, beginning October 1, 2020; review and approval of all MTN pricing by the NCA from October 1, 2020; and implementation of the on-net / off-net, price differential removal on default tariffs, affecting data and promotional offers as well.
“One is in the advanced stage of implementation and the remaining three will be worked as and when they are due or defined by the regulator,” MTN noted.
