Why AT Ghana and Telecel are merging?

The Ghanaian government has announced plans to merge AT Ghana, formerly AirtelTigo, with Telecel Ghana.

The Ministry says this will halt AT’s growing losses and create a stronger competitor for MTN.

At a staff meeting in Accra, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey assured AT employees that no jobs will be cut.

Why the Migration Is Needed

According to the National Communications Authority (NCA), MTN controls 73.9% of the market with 29.5 million subscribers. Telecel follows with 18.3% (7.29 million subscribers) and AirtelTigo lags with 7.9% (3.15 million subscribers).

A merged Telecel–AT Ghana entity would hold 26.1% of the market with 10.44 million subscribers.

While this strengthens the second-largest player, MTN would still lead by nearly 20 million customers.

AT Ghana has been in financial trouble for years. Per the statistics, In the first eight months of 2025, AT Ghana lost more than $10 million.

If, AirletTigo was sold now, the value of its liabilities would be greater than its assets, making it impossible for the government to keep supporting the company with taxpayer money, as it is currently doing.

Migration Process

The technical migration is nearly done, with 3.2 million AT users now on Telecel’s infrastructure thanks to a national roaming agreement.

The new entity is estimated to require about $600 million in investment over the next four years. Funding will be sourced primarily from government spectrum sales and private partners.

The Ministry’s objectives are to broaden 4G coverage and extend service to more rural regions.

Merger or Not?

Despite public perception, the Minister of Communication insists this is not technically a merger or acquisition.

Instead, it is a temporary regulatory intervention to protect consumers after AT defaulted on debts to ATC Ghana, a tower operator in Ghana.

By September 2025, AT owed ATC over $150 million leading the tower operator to disconnect power to AT’s sites nationwide.

The NCA instructed AT and Telecel to agree to a national roaming deal to prevent a shutdown of services that would impact three million customers.

This ensured AT’s services including voice, data, SMS, and mobile money remained active on Telecel’s network.