Although it is not clear when the telecoms market leader will be listing, there are positive indications that the company might do so by the end of the year or latest, first quarter next year.

The move by MTN Ghana to list on the local bourse forms part of the conditions under which it secured its Long Term Evolution (LTE) Fourth Generation (4G) licence in 2015 from the industry regulator, the National Communications Authority (NCA).

At the company’s stakeholder meeting in Accra last Monday, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Ebenezer Asante, explained that the move to list part of the company on the GSE was to offer Ghanaians the opportunity to share in the fortunes of MTN. It is also one of the critical conditions which clearly dwelt on the localisation of the company.

“It’s very clear from the license that 35 per cent of MTN should be moved into Ghanaian hands and since we needed the license, we did not bother but to heed to the conditions”, he said.

Mr Asante, who was voted the best performing CEO for the Year 2016 within the MTN group, said “we have made a major step towards achieving this license condition and have engaged all the relevant regulators: These are the NCA, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Securities and Exchange Commission”.

He said although there were still a few issues that needed to be worked on, the company will continue to engage to ensure that all such matters were resolved to pave the way for a successful listing on the local bourse.

Asked to be specific on the date of listing the Initial Public Offer (IPO) he said, “When we receive approval from the regulators, we would be in the position to launch the 4G localisation that came with the license.”

“In terms of the exact timelines I’m not able to commit to that because I am not a regulator and I should not be seen to be stampeding the regulator through this interaction so all that I can say is that three months for the receipt of the approval from the SEC, we will be in the position to launch and it should be before the end of this year,” Mr Asante said.

The numbers

MTN Ghana acquired the 4G LTE licence for $67.5million for the next 15 years. Should the IPO be successful, the company is expected to raise about US$500 million to offload 35 per cent of its stake to Ghanaian individuals and institutions.

Should it list successfully, the company would be exempted from the capital market local content policy which enjoins companies operating in specific areas including telecom, mining, oil and gas to list a minimum percentage of their shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange within five years of commencement of operations in Ghana.

MTN’s revenue increased from GH¢2.3 billion in 2015 to GH¢2.7 billion in 2016. During the period, the telecom operator increased its subscriber base by some 18.7 per cent to 19.3 million. The company’s data revenue went up to 65.7 per cent, contributing 42 per cent to total revenue while digital revenue contributed 48 per cent to data revenue.