Management of Telecel Group has assured the staff of Vodafone Ghana there will be no layoffs as it takes over the company.
This follows the National Communications Authority’s approval for the transfer of the 70 per cent majority shares in Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited (Vodafone Ghana) held by Vodafone International Holdings B.V. to Telecel Group.
There has been uneasy calm amongst the staff of Vodafone Ghana over their job security since the news of the takeover was approved.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Citi Business News, co-owner and Director on the Board of Telecel Group, Nicolas Bourg, stated that there is no cause for concern.
“Not at all, we don’t have any plans to lay off anybody. That’s not the way we operate in Telecel. We proved it with different organisations that we have in different sectors.”
“Our plan is to keep every employee of Vodafone.” He stressed.
This confirms what the Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and Vodafone Ghana CEO, Patricia Obo-Nai earlier told the staff that there will be no lay offs under Telecel.
Techgh24 learnt that as recent as Tuesday, January 31, 2023 the CEO held a durbar with staff and assured them of job security.
Slow rebranding
Telecel officials are yet to visit Vodafone Ghana and interact with the workers, but they have been informed that even the rebranding from Vodafone to Telecel will take a while, possible up to two years.
“In terms of rebranding, we’ve been told that the change over to Telecel will be slow and the Vodafone brand will remain for at least 2 years,” a worker told TechGh24.
Telecel has earmarked to invest $700 million into Africa over the next five years and a significant chunk of that will come to Ghana, which is its biggest market by far.
Indeed, the company earlier indicated its readiness to invest $500 million into Ghana over a period of three years and that plan is well on track.
CEO and co-owner of Telecel, Moh Damush has, for instance, said that Telecel plans to double the number of towers it operates in Ghana, in the next two years in a bid to compete with market leader, MTN. Vodafone’s network consists of about 2,000 towers, compared with MTN’s 5,000.
He said the company also plans to provide rural areas in Ghana with connectivity via satellites, adding that Telecel intends to take full advantage of the regulations in Ghana to expand access on the back of roaming on the MTN network while its network expansion is being carried out.
Last year, Vodafone Ghana applied to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to transfer 70 per cent of its majority shares to Telecel but this did not pull through because NCA said it failed to meet regulatory requirements.
The Authority indicated both Vodafone and Telecel made some concessions and Telecel resubmitted a revised proposal with further an and better financial and technical particulars, which demonstrated the needed capital investment to extend the deployment of 4G and launch innovative Fintech solutions, and
“The NCA found that the revised proposal provided more clarity and certainty in terms of the funding required for the acquisition and commitments from both the Seller and buyer. In addition, the buyer has strengthened the overall governance and management team, and made firm commitments toward meeting the regulatory requirements of the NCA,” it further indicated.
Based on this, the NCA determined that the Purchaser’s revised plan now satisfies regulatory requirements, and as a result, it gave conditional approval for the transfer of shares to the buyer, subject to the filing of a staff retention strategy.
Mr Bourg expressed delight at the progress made.
“We’re very happy about it. It’s been a year of talking with them (NCA) for us to fit their needs and today we are in a very constructive state of mind with them.”
