• Login
NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
  • Home
  • News
    • General
    • Political
  • Economy
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Banking & Finance
    • Energy
    • Insurance
    • Manufacturing
    • Markets
    • Maritime
    • Real Estate
    • Tourism
    • Transport
  • Technology
    • Telecom
    • Cyber-security
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Tech-guide
    • Social Media
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Opinions
  • Reports
    • Banking/Finance
    • Insurance
    • Budgets
    • GDP
    • Inflation
    • Central Bank
    • Sec/Gse
  • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Entertainment
    • Travel
    • Environment
    • Weather
  • NRTV
    • Audio
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

MTN’s $773m Tax: GRA ditched KPMG for IMF agent Safaritech

3 years ago
in Business, Features, highlights, Home, home-news, latest News, Telecom
3 min read
0 0
0
207
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

MTN’s $773m Tax: GRA ditched KPMG for IMF agent Safaritech

The company which did the tax assessment that led to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) slapping MTN Ghana with the controversial GHS8 billion tax liability is Safaritech Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of Safaritech Kenya Limited with headquarters in the United Kingdom.

On its own website, Safaritech had admitted to being sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and USAID, and also to being “a base for the International Monetary Fund” in developing countries.

In selecting Safaritech, the GRA had to ditch the work of KPMG, whose work the GRA and telecom industry regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) had, on a number of occasions, depended on for revenue assurance in the tech industry among others.

In fact, in this particular MTN case, KPMG did a separate independent assessment that was at variance with the work of Safaritech and the GRA decided to ditch KPMG and take that of Safaritech.

It is not clear what methodology KPMG used, but per the notice GRA served MTN regarding the GHS8 billion tax liability, Safaritech audited CDRs (call data records) plus other data to arrive at the conclusion that MTN Ghana hid 30% of its revenue from government between 2014 and 2018.

RelatedPosts

Why Women Must Be Involved In Building Flood Resilience

African Development Bank Group and Michael Bloomberg to Drive Private Investment into Africa

Bitcoin Drops to $109K as Crypto Market Loses $200 Billion

Again it is important to note that GRA ditched KPMG for Safaritech, an IMF-sponsored agent, at a time when Ghana has gone to IMF with cup in hand begging for $3 billion to deal with the country’s bankruptcy. It would therefore appear that Ghana is under pressure to implement the audit report of an IMF-sponsored and preferred agent rather than that of the highly-reputed KPMG.

What is also not clear is how much Safaritech was paid and by what method they were or are being paid. In previous instances, the GRA had paid such contractors a percentage of the incremental revenue discovered. So in this case, Safaritech may be entitled to a percentage of the GHS8 billion.

MTN has challenged the tax liability and has been given 21 days to negotiate with the GRA in that regard. The telecoms giant also has the opportunity to seek redress in court if the negotiation does not prove satisfactory.

The implications of this liability slapped on MTN are more than just financial. There is the issue of reputational damage if indeed they hid revenue from the state; and there is also the issue of criminality if indeed they evaded taxes as is being alleged. It is possible some current and former MTN Ghana staff might go to jail if this matter is pushed to its logical conclusion.

But who are Safaritech, and how come GRA preferred them over the highly-reputed KPMG?

First of all, as stated above, Safaritech is a UK-based Kenyan auditing and consulting firm, which is an agent of the IMF and also sponsored by USAID. Within the context of Ghana going to the IMF with cup-in-hand for $3 billion to assist the country deal with its bankruptcy, it is not a surprise for GRA to have chosen Safaritech’s audit report over that of KPMG.

Per its own “Who We Are” on its website, Safaritech Ghana comes with a vaunt of experience spanning 20 years (Since July 13,  1998) in audit and investigation of compliance systems of Revenue Authorities and Telecom companies in 31 countries with inordinate success in partnership with IMF/World Bank, USAID and others.

The countries where Safaritech has actually provided the kind of telecoms auditing services it did in Ghana are its home country Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Jamaica, Antigua, and Liberia.

According to Safaritech, all of these exercises/contracts were either sponsored by the revenue authority of the respective countries and or by IMF and USAID, and it achieved between 385% and over 500% incremental tax revenue across board. That is significant.

Beside telecom auditing and tax compliances solutions, Safaritech is also involved in telecom training, research and sizing in Senegal, Togo, Benin, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Liberia and Ghana, all sponsored by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the respective revenue authorities.

Safaritech also works as specialized consultants in the design and implementation of overall Electronic Tax Devices for retail VAT collection. The table below show their footprints in that area, and it includes Ghana, since 2016.

CountryStatusAdditional VAT, Excise
Kenya2004 – Model444%
Ethiopia2004 – Non- EFDMS66%
Tanzania2009 – The BEST2855%
Rwanda2012 – Upgrading–
Ghana2016 – Contractor–
MozambiqueMalawi

Zimbabwe

2015 – Contractor2014

2016

The company is also involved in Training or Research, Piloting, Sizing, Installation and functioning maintenance of Electronic Tax Devices on traders POS in Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, India, Malawi, Burundi, Jamaica, Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, S/Leone, Bangladesh, South Africa and Malaysia.

Safaritech’s electronic tax devices, equipment and software relevant for Africa are manufactured in Bulgaria, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, France, Italy, Dubai, China and India.

No Result
View All Result

Highlights

AI in Africa: 5 Issues That Must be Tackled for Digital Equality

ECG Posts Record Monthly Revenue of GHS 1.74bn for July

IMF Urges Lebanon to Deepen Reforms Amid Fragile Rebound and Banking Sector Challenges

GCB Bank Outlines Post-IATF Path to Powering Africa’s Trade Future

AGI Raises Alarm Over Weak Consumer Demand Despite Signs of Economic Recovery

Lead, Mercury Found in Turmeric, Tom Brown and Others – FDA Report

Trending

Features

Why Women Must Be Involved In Building Flood Resilience

September 26, 2025

Why Women Must be Involved in Building Flood Resilience Women carrying children through chest-deep waters, families watching...

African Development Bank Group and Michael Bloomberg to Drive Private Investment into Africa

September 26, 2025

Bitcoin Drops to $109K as Crypto Market Loses $200 Billion

September 26, 2025

AI in Africa: 5 Issues That Must be Tackled for Digital Equality

September 26, 2025

ECG Posts Record Monthly Revenue of GHS 1.74bn for July

September 26, 2025

Who we are?

NORVANREPORTS.COM |  Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World

NorvanReports is a unique data, business, and financial portal aimed at providing accurate, impartial reporting of business news on Ghana, Africa, and around the world from a truly independent reporting and analysis point of view.

© 2020 Norvanreports – credible news platform.
L: Hse #4 3rd Okle Link, Baatsonaa – Accra-Ghana T:+233-(0)26 451 1013 E: news@norvanreports.com info@norvanreports.com
All rights reserved we display professionalism at all stages of publications

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Aviation
    • Energy
    • Insurance
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate
    • Maritime
    • Tourism
    • Transport
    • Banking & Finance
    • Trade
    • Markets
  • Economy
  • Reports
  • Technology
    • Cryptocurrency
    • Cyber-security
    • Social Media
    • Tech-guide
    • Telecom
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Opinions
  • Lifestyle
    • Entertainment
    • Sports
    • Travel
    • Environment
    • Weather
  • NRTV
    • Audio
    • Video

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
NORVANREPORTS.COM | Business News, Insurance, Taxation, Oil & Gas, Maritime News, Ghana, Africa, World
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.