The five-year medium-term facility, arranged by Ecobank from nine local banks, including Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Bank and Stanbic bank, comes at a rate of 182 day Treasury Bill rate plus five per cent. An agreement to that effect was signed between MTN Ghana and the nine local banks in Accra on Thursday.

“The result of this deal is a continuous investment and will further boost our capital expenditure and enable significant investments into key strategic areas to ensure a robust network in the delivery of a bold new digital world,” Mr Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer, MTN Ghana, said at the signing.

Mr Kadri said the increasing customer sophistication required that huge capital investments had to be made to be able to meet the demands of the market, and keep up with trends in technology in order to provide relevant products and services.

He said the loan, which was oversubscribed by 590 million cedis, was a clear demonstration of MTN’s excellent financial health and the resolve to deepen and strengthen the local banking system by declining offers from foreign banks.

Mr Dan Sackey, Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, said the deal showed Ecobank’s capabilities in the corporate and investment banking space in Ghana and Middle East. “With the closure of this transaction, Ecobank is poised to continue on the path of leading big ticket deals in Ghana and across its coverage space,” he said.

He said the over subscription showed the quality and strength of MTN in the market.

MTN Ghana in 2012 raised $300 million from a similar loan to finance network expansion, but this was repaid by the end of May this year. MTN is the leading mobile operator in Ghana with 17.8 million voice subscribers as of September.