What is Telecel's Gameplan in Ghana?
Is Ghana just an IPO play in the long term?
In 2024, Vodafone Ghana officially rebranded as Telecel Ghana. The Telecel group purchased Vodafone Ghana in 2023 after the Vodafone Group had informed the government of its intent to sell.
After the acquisition, how is Telecel Ghana faring?
That depends on whom you ask.
For consumers, nothing has really changed. Some would say service has gotten worse. But at the group level, everything is appears to be going according to plan.
Big Start
Telecel kicked off its rebrand back in February with a launch event.
The company announced the addition of 300 new 4G sites in November 2023 to improve service. The company has so far been doing a lot of corporate social responsibility projects across the country.
But when it comes to its mobile service, things don’t look as rosy.
Losing Subscribers and Power Issues
MTN Ghana is the top dog when it comes to voice and data subscribers. MTN currently has more than 70% market share compared Telecel’s 17%.
Vodafone was losing subscribers before Telecel took over. But the losing streak still continues.
In July 2024, Telecel was involved in some controversy when the tower company ATC cut off power supply to some of their antennas due to unpaid bills.
The regulator, the National Communication Authority, had to step in to mediate to reconnect power.
Customer Complaints Still Linger
If you’re on X, you’re likely to see a barrage of customer complaints about Telecel.
But to cut the company some slack, there have been lots of fibre cuts due to construction and theft, which interrupt services.
Regardless, the barrage of criticism online continues. It’s not a great look for brand equity as some consumers for alternatives due to poor service.
Has All This Been Part of Telecel’s Path to an IPO?
Before Telecel acquired Vodafone Ghana, the group indicated that they planned to issue an Initial Public Offer (IPO) after the acquisition formality was over.
This formed a larger part into Telecel’s expansion strategy into Africa.
The group plans to go public within the next five years and is currently pursuing more deals in West Africa.
The group currently has operations in Central Africa Republic, Liberia, South Africa, Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry.
So is Telecel’s plan for Ghana just to add to its collection for its IPO?
The service since acquisition hasn’t really been great. Apart from a launch of a new savings feature, Telecel hasn’t really offered anything innovative.
5G is yet to officially rolled out and there’s no currently timeline for the service.
What Happens Next
Telecel Group is still looking at expanding further into West Africa to prepare for its IPO
It will be an uphill climb for Telecel to improve subscriber numbers in the mobile space as MTN continues to dominate thanks to persistent domination.
5G could be a differentiator but until it rolls out, Telecel will be a tough sell for prospective consumers