The no. 1 telecommunications giant in the country, MTN, has been ranked ahead of all its other competitors in the telecoms industry in the country, as Ghana’s Most Respected telecom company for the year 2009. The awards ceremony, attended by high profile dignitaries some of whom CEO’s and MDs of well-placed organizations, members of the diplomatic corps, civil society and leading politicians was held on the 8th of May 2010 at the State Banquet Hall in Accra. The awards, based on a peer review system conducted amongst several companies, was aimed at recognizing and rewarding excellence in corporate Ghana. The well-attended awards ceremony was organized by the global accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and one of Ghana’s financial newspapers, Business & Financial Times (B&FT). To MTN, this is another milestone chalked in the quest to offer complete freedom to the subscribers. It is undeniable that MTN is the most revered brand in Ghana. It has for some time now offered sound leadership in the telecoms industry. With its exemplary leadership there is no doubt that MTN will annexe several other trophies in the near future because of its innovative and can-do attitude. H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana was the Guest of Honour for the occasion. His advice to Ghanaian enterprises to take on opportunities of the booming oil and gas sector to diversify and expand their businesses did not come as news to MTN as the company is already blazing the trail in this regard. Just a few weeks ago, the company organized a workshop to update stakeholders in the country’s oil and gas sector about the preparation to introduce the first ever offshore and onshore data and voice services by next year. The criteria for evaluating the companies were based on the basis of social responsibility, excellent business culture, strong brand name, high stakeholder value, excellent, creative and marketing /customer service focus, as well as efficient and effective use of technological development. The awards scheme is a peer review mechanism among companies in Ghana and is aimed at recognizing and rewarding Excellence in Corporate Ghana. It involves a survey conducted by an independent research firm, Synovate Research. This Year’s theme was; ‘Sustaining Excellence in Changing Times’.