Ghanaian govt will merge AT and Telecel to take on dominant MTN

Details: John Tanner; Category: Operators; 05 September 2025; 5730 views

Ghanian govt will merge AT and Telecel to take on dominant MTN

Ghana’s Ministry for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has reportedly revealed plans to merge telecoms players AT and Telecel in hopes of creating a sustainable competitor to market leader MTN.

According to various media reports, the merger plan will be rolled out in three phases, starting with the migration of AT’s roughly 3.2 million subscribers to Telecel’s network under a national roaming arrangement that is already underway.

The next phase will involve realigning human resources so that all 300 of AT’s employees remain onboard under the newly merged entity. After that will be a commercial restructuring of the merged company’s framework, which is expected to take 120 days.

According to TechAfrica News, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George said the merger will require an investment of US$600 million over the next four years to be sustainable. He said the Ghanaian government would contribute to that via avenues like proceeds from spectrum sales, but Telecel and other partners will have to invest in the venture as well.

George said the merger was necessary because AT – by far the smallest of Ghana’s three telecoms operators, which the government bought from Bharti Airtel and Millicom in 2021 – has lost US$10 million in the first eight months of this year alone, the report said.

“That is money that should be building roads, water systems, and schools. We cannot keep pouring public funds into unsustainable operations,” he was quoted as saying. “It makes no sense for two networks to operate separately on the same tower, both paying twice while both struggle. A merger is the smart and sustainable choice.”

MTN Ghana currently dominates Ghana’s telecoms sector with 29.8 million mobile subscribers as of June 2025, which works out to 73.8% market share. The resulting merger of AT with second-ranked Telecel (formerly Vodafone Ghana, which is also 30% owned by the government) would create a relatively stronger competitor to MTN with 10.5 million subscribers.