We do not have the mandate to list on the stock exchange – Vodafone

Company News of Monday, February 4, 2019

Source: citibusinessnews.com

2019-02-04

Vodafone Ghana has stated that it is not mandated to register on the Ghana Stock Exchange as a result of the acquisition of the 4G license.

In a statement, the company pointed out that the application documents for the license, nor the condition of the license do not refer to the listing on the stock exchange, hence its decision.

The comments follow comments from the Ghana Stock Exchange's management that they will seek Vodafone's listing on the stock market to allow the public to own an interest in the company.

However, Vodafone believes that the license requires successful companies to guarantee 25% ownership of Ghanaians and that the government already owns 30%. They can not therefore be required to be listed on the stock exchange.

"In fact, the process of bidding for the 4G LTE license is forcing successful companies to guarantee a 25% stake in Ghana in their activities, which is not the same as registration at the GSE. Vodafone has already met this requirement since the government of Ghana holds 30%. An IPO on the exchange is therefore clearly not required. "

The statement signed by the Director of External Affairs, Gayheart Mensah, further stated: "Our goal now is to ensure that our infrastructure is ready for the deployment of 4G and its large-scale deployment as soon as possible. We remain committed to providing our customers with the true 4G experience.

"Our continued successful partnership with the government and the company's investments in spectrum, infrastructure, products and services, and our people demonstrate Vodafone's commitment to Ghana. We are proud to be Ghanaian and to be at the center of the telecom revolution in the country. "

Scholarship managers hire the Ministry of Communications following the move

The Ghana Stock Exchange executives announced that they were working with the Ministry of Communications to force the telecom company Vodafone to float part of its stock market shares after buying a 4G spectrum.

Justifying the need for Vodafone to be listed on the stock market, Kofi Yamoah's CEO said such a decision would also strengthen Vodafone's operations in the country.

He believed that to force Vodafone to be on the list would give Ghanaians an opportunity to be part of a group that was originally Ghanaian.

"At the time of the sale of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone in 2008, part of the agreement required Vodafone to be listed on the market, but so far this has not been fulfilled yet."

Below is the full statement of Vodafone

The 4G LTE conditions of license do NOT entitle the licensees to make an initial public offering on GSE and nowhere in the bid documents or the condition of license is even mentioned. The notion of forcing Vodafone to register on the GSE is therefore misplaced.

In fact, the bidding process for the 4G LTE license requires successful companies to guarantee a 25% stake of Ghana in their activities, which is not the same as the Registration at the GSE.

Vodafone has already met this requirement since the government of Ghana holds 30%. An IPO on the exchange is therefore clearly not required.

That said, Vodafone said it had no desire to be listed, or tailor its local stake in the company's fortunes, as suggested by the publications.

"Our goal now is to ensure that our infrastructure is ready for 4G deployment and scale deployment as soon as possible. We remain committed to providing our customers with the true 4G experience.

"Our continued successful partnership with the government and the company's investments in spectrum, infrastructure, products and services, and our people demonstrate Vodafone's commitment to Ghana. We are proud to be Ghanaian and to be at the center of the telecom revolution in the country. "