Vice President of think-thank IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Bright Simons, has alleged that government is selling telecommunications company, AirtelTigo to British investor Ian Hannam for an insignificant amount of money.

According to Mr Simons, the selling price of $175 million with a government stake of 15% is far below what is considered reasonable.

In a post on X platform, Monday, February 5, he explained that "judging from the reported valuation of AirtelTigo (~$175m) alone, this looks like a steal for Hannam. It means Hannam is buying each AT subscriber for just $26!."

He recalled that in 2022, Telecel paid $67 for each Vodafone subscriber and in 2009, Vodafone paid $710 for each GT subscriber.

"In 2006, MTN paid ~$745 for each Areeba subscriber - In 2008, Celtel paid ~$53k per Westel subscriber (this was really mostly for the licenses) - In 2010, Airtel bought Zain's subs in Ghana at about $267 each," he added.

Mr Simons therefore concluded that the telecommunications business in the country is declining due to such an action taken by the government.

In February 2023, the Attorney General, after a thorough assessment has approved the sale of Vodafone Ghana to Telecel.

The Finance Ministry had earlier written to the Attorney General with a request for a review of all relevant transaction documents on the transfer of 70 percent majority shares in Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (Vodafone Ghana) held by Vodafone International Holdings B.V. to Telecel Group with a view to carrying out due diligence for the transaction and providing legal advice.

Commenting on the details of the transactions after the review the Attorney General indicated that the documents provided met all the conditions per Section 98 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), Regulations 34 of the Regulations and Articles 14 & 15 of the Shareholders’ Agreement.