Telecoms boom spurs economic growth
Africa’s growth story is unfolding apace. For investors wanting to share in the story, the region’s mobile telecom sector stands out as vibrant with potential.
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With new cheaper smartphones set to drive sales, a growing corporate market, and the fact that most in Africa will use mobile phones to access the Internet and do business, many analysts say the telecoms industry will drive the continent’s development agenda.
Voice traffic is expected to double over the next five years, while data traffic driven by fast-falling smartphone selling prices will rise 20-fold.
The industry is also a major facilitator of international trade, connecting individuals across borders and countries across continents.
In Ghana, the telecommunication industry has impacted significantly on the socio-economic development of the country
The industry makes substantial contribution to the country’s GDP, job creation and social cohesion through positive interactions and engagements among individuals and corporate institutions.
It has created thousands of jobs, both direct and indirect, to enhance economic growth and development.
Furthermore, the telecommunication industry is a major taxpayer, contributing significantly to revenue generation for development.
Impact of mobile telephony
The emergency of mobile telephony 32years ago has been more phenomenal than ever before in respect of the contribution of the telecommunication industry to economic growth and development.
Mobile phones have become so indispensable that it is difficult for one to come to terms with a life in a day without that magic handset.
In a survey commissioned by the Bank of America which sought to find out how people ranked in order of importance some basic necessities in life, 91 per cent of the respondents considered the mobile phone, car and deodorant as indispensable commodities in their lives.
Indeed, one interesting finding was that respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 considered the mobile phone as more important to them than toothbrush.
Contribution of MTN
In similar measure, the MTN Group, as a leader in the telecommunication industry, has contributed immensely to economic growth and development.
The company is a leading taxpayer, apart from offering direct and indirect employment to thousands of Ghanaians.
Through intervention programmes under the MTN Foundation, thousands of people have benefited from the benevolence of the company.
The MTN Group operates in 22 countries with 219.2 subscribers.
The company started operation in Ghana in August 2007, having taken over Scancom Limited in 2006 and rebranded Areeba in 2007.
Currently, MTN Ghana is the fourth largest company within the MTN Group and the leading telecommunication player in the country.
It holds 45.6 per cent of the voice market share, representing 14 million out of the 29.1 million subscriptions.
It also commands 7.8 million out of the 16.1 million subscriptions, representing 48.3 per cent of the data market share in the industry.
Between 1994 when it started operation and 2013, the strategy and focus of MTN Group sought to ensure steady organic growth, prudent acquisitions and robust governance.
Through such strategy and focus, the MTN Group was able to achieve its vision of becoming the telecommunications leader in emerging markets.
As a leader in Ghana’s telecommunications industry, MTN Ghana is determined to maintain its leadership in emerging markets and into the new digital world.
In order to achieve that goal, the company has adopted a new strategy and focus, beginning 2013, to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to customers.
Challenges
The telecommunication industry would have made bigger impact than its current performance but for some challenges that tend to undermine its operations, delivery of more efficient services to customers and capital base.
Many players in the industry have expressed concern about what they consider to be high and numerous tax payments.
They are also concerned about the huge expenditure they make on batteries as a result of irregular power supply; depreciation of the cedi which leads to increase in import bills, and fiber cuts and thefts which affect quality and efficient service delivery to customers.
Addressing the challenges
Given the important contribution the telecommunication industry makes to national economic growth and development, it is imperative to address these challenges promptly.
The government must endeavour to fix the current energy problem and also deal with the depreciation of the local currency so that the expenditure that players in the industry make on batteries as a result of power outages, and their high import bills due to the weakness of the cedi would be reduced.
Furthermore, it is also important for the government to put in place polices that would enhance the growth of the industry, rather than those that impede growth.
It is in the context of addressing the challenges in the industry that the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA) must be commended for collaborating with MTN Ghana to undertake advocacy programmes to tackle the issues.
Such collaboration led to a prompt response from the government last year to address the problem of fiber cuts and thefts.
Although the phenomenon still exists, the situation has improved tremendously after the government’s intervention.
The reduction in the spate of fiber cuts is also due to the positive engagement MTN Ghana has had with road contractors with the view to ensuring diligence in road construction to avoid fiber cuts.
Considering the positive contributions the telecommunication industry is making to national economic growth and development, it is imperative to accord it every needed support to enable it to deliver better services.
The proliferation in mobile devices will provide ever more platforms to deliver viable broadband services to customers in developing regions - in Africa, there have been 316 million new mobile phone subscribers since 2000! — GB
