MTN pays GH¢1.1bn to govt in taxes
Mobile telecommunications company, MTN Ghana, paid GH¢1.1 billion to the government in various taxes last year. The payments include corporate tax of GH¢713 million (up from the GH¢675.6 million paid in 2015), and fees to the National Communications Authority (NCA) and other regulatory bodies.
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At this year’s MTN Stakeholder engagement in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, Mr Ebenezer Twum Asante, said the company recorded total revenue of GH¢2.77 billion, an increase of about 19.39 per cent from the GH¢2.32 billion recorded in 2015.
The engagement is an event during which the company shares its performance in the past year and its expectations for the current year with key stakeholders, such as suppliers, distributors, the media and other partners.
It was on the theme: “Celebrating Ghana, 60 Years On: A Bold New Digital World for National Transformation.’’
Stakeholders’ forum
In spite of the challenges in the local economy such as power crisis and rising cost of utilities, Mr Asante said the company invested in all aspects of its network, expanded coverage to rural areas and improved quality in the existing network and would continue to do so this year.
“This year, we have earmarked $143.7 million for capital expenditure. This will be used in areas such as increasing network capacity, build sufficient infrastructural back-up or redundancy and accelerate network rollout of 4G sites, 475 sites of which are already live, and continue with 197 more sites in 2017,’’ Mr Asante said.
Call drops
MTN will also roll out 410 kilometres of fibre optic cables across the country, 561 3G sites, with additional 2G sites.
In line with its target to transform the network from data and voice to a company providing digital solutions, Mr Asante said, the company would modernise 2,600 of its base transceiver stations to offer superior and quality services to its customers.
MTN Foundation
The company currently commits a percentage of its revenues to its social investment arm, MTN Foundation, which invests in socially impacting projects across the country, especially in deprived communities.
The foundation has invested GH¢32.2 million in 142 projects over the last nine years.
Future
The CEO said the company was pursuing a new model to transform the company from emphasis on voice and data, into a more digital business within the next three years, where data would contribute to more than half of its operational revenues.
“Our mobile money business will play a key role in 2017. Our single biggest focus will be on payments. We are looking forward to a future where you will not think twice to use your mobile money to make payments,” he stated.
Mr Asante, however, reiterated his two-year-old call on the government to, as a matter of urgency, abolish the National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy (NFSL), saying “if there is any nuisance tax in the telecommunications industry, it is the NFSL.”
Goodwill messages
A member of the National Media Commission (NMC), Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, who represented the commission at the forum, commended MTN for its contributions to the national economy and for working hard to become an employer of choice.
Dr Dartey lauded some of the company’s social interventions, such as ‘Heroes of Change’, and appealed to the company to resume its support to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), and assist to build the capacity of journalists in the country.
For his part, the President of the GJA, Mr Affail Monney, commended the company for consolidating its position in the telecommunications sector and called on it to partner the association to train more journalists, which, he said, would help raise the standard of journalism in the country to even greater heights.