MTN Group will invest $1 billion in Ghana over the next five years, the mobile operator said on Wednesday, after the government exempted its Ghanaian unit from tax claims worth about $773 million.
The investment comes on the heels of the Ghana Revenue Authority exempting the company’s bill for back taxes earlier this month after the incident sparked a diplomatic reaction by the South African foreign minister.
The tax claim was initially issued after the revenue authority audited the company for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferred that it under declared its revenue by about 30% during the period.
MTN Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, said the company was committed to investing in Ghana despite short-term headwinds.
“To be sure, macro-economic conditions are very challenging in the near term. That said we are focused on the medium and long term and we are seeing growth,” he said in a statement.
MTN intends to invest the amount in 5G technology which it believes would spur faster growth across sectors, he said.
One of the largest economies in Africa, Ghana is reckoning with its worst economic crisis in a generation as capital outflows, a crushing debt-service burden and rapid currency depreciation wreak havoc on government and household finances.
Its consumer inflation slowed slightly to 53.6% year-on-year in January from a more than two-decade high of 54.1% in the previous month, data showed earlier on Wednesday.
Latest Stories
- Life lounge with Edem Knight-Tay: Don’t Die Fixing It
7 hours - ‘If NPP can get a consensus candidate, it’ll help us tremendously’ – Hackman
10 hours - Accra West ECG recovers GH¢675k in revenue mobilisation exercise
10 hours - Hypertension can cause male erectile dysfunctions – Dr Benjamin Toboh
10 hours - 1V1D: Government spent averagely ¢670k on each of the ‘dried dams’ – Research
11 hours - Rastafarian student nearly rejected by Achimota School may represent them at NSMQ
11 hours - ‘You’re abusing fowls’ – Animal Welfare League demands ban on battery cages
11 hours - ‘Family Feud’ contestant who joked about regretting marriage on game show found guilty of murdering wife
11 hours - Can Gyekye-Quayson lawfully run as an MP in the Assin-North bye-election? (Kwaku Azar writes)
12 hours - The Gambia hires US lawyers over syrup scandal – report
12 hours - Fear as Jamie Foxx left ‘paralyzed, blind’ from ‘brain clot’
12 hours - Kizz Daniels welcomes third child
12 hours - Jose Mourinho charged for using abusive language towards official at Europa League final
12 hours - Beneficiaries of StanChart Women in Technology programme share inspiring stories
13 hours - Benin petrol prices soar as Nigeria moves to end subsidy
13 hours