MTN Ghana is blaming the fluctuations on its share price after listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on the general performance of the economy and loss of confidence by some investors.

According to the Board Chairman, Dr Ishmael Yamson, it is too early to describe the company's performance as poor since it is now picking up interest.

He spoke with the media after the company had its first Annual General meeting in.

MTN’s share price has declined by 12 per cent to about 69 pesewas today since listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

However, it went up to close at 75 pesewas, its original price during the IPO.

"It's an effect from the banks and financial crises and I think part of it is what is happening on the Ghana Stock Exchange. As a country we haven't taken time to understand the impact of the crises, although investing in equity is not a financial instrument, it’s part of an investment portfolio so it's a major issue that needs to be confronted.”

Ishmael Yamson said, “The second matter is the depreciation of the cedi which affected the performance of investments in the country," adding that it is a bigger problem that needs to be tackled.

Shareholders of MTN expressed mixed views about the performance of the company's share price on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

According to some of them, they welcome the move by the company to pay 5 pesewas per share for the first year after the listing, they want the company to do more in getting a good return for investors and shareholders.

At its maiden Annual General Meeting since the company listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, shareholders believe the MTN’s share price and dividends can be improved to attract more investors or encourage a buy-back of shares.

MTN Ghana, however, recorded strong growth with revenue increasing by 23.5 per cent driven by data and digital revenue.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh is appealing to the National Communication Authority to be fair in pricing the available telecom spectrum for the sector players.

According to him, MTN Ghana has expressed interest in acquiring additional mobile spectrum in order to improve its network services delivery to customers but wants a competitive price.

"All we can say is that we need fair prices when it comes to spectrum pricing because we know what our competitors offered in the last bid and what MTN also offered. We have expressed interest in additional spectrum but because the regulator hasn't come up yet with a price, we as a player cannot pre-empt any figure," Mr Adadevoh said.

The company after listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange recorded a remarkable performance during last year with mobile money contributing 17.7 per cent.