MTN to use size to drive cashless society

MTN Ghana has pledged its commitment to using its platform and size of customers on its network to help enhance the drive for a cashless society in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Mr Ebenezer Twum Asante, who said this in Accra last weekend, said mobile money transactions, apart from ensuring speedy economic transaction, allowed people to financially participate in the national economy, irrespective of whether they had bank accounts or not.

He was speaking during a courtesy call on him by the top executives of the Network of Communications Reporters (NCR).

The visit was to first congratulate Mr Asante as the first Ghanaian to occupy the topmost position of the telecom giant since it first made an entry into the country more than 15 years ago.

“Using our mobile money platform means that we are able to facilitate speedy economic transactions and it is a very efficient way of helping all of us to use our time productively and efficiently and at the same time meet our social obligations,” he said.

MTN within competition

Although mobile data penetration figures dipped marginally from 17,027,946 in May 2015, to 16,816,134 in June, according to the latest figures from the National Communication Authority, MTN was the highest gainer as it increased its data subscriber base from 8,036,659 to 8,128,130, in the month under review. This represented a market share of 48.34 per cent.

For mobile voice, MTN once again was the highest gainer as it increased its subscriber numbers from 14,642,806 to 14,886,291, translating into a market share of 46 per cent.

However, the subscriber numbers for mobile voice as at the beginning of the month had crossed the 15 million mark.

Growth

Mr Asante said that MTN was not only growing in numbers, but also in quality and value proposition.

He said about five years ago when the company celebrated its 10 millionth subscriber anniversary, most of the customers were on voice only, but currently a significant portion were on data and also capitalising on the mobile financial services provided by the company of which it dominates.

Giving a breakdown, Mr Asante said out of the 15 million subscribers, about 8.5 million of them were also on data.

“In terms of data penetration on our network it’s more than half of the base in terms of data connection. About 4.5 million are doing mobile financial service with over seven million of them carrying out transactions every 90 days. We are not only growing in numbers but in depth and also in terms of the services that customers need,” he said.

Data and GDP growth

A high data penetration is good for the economy, he said, adding that “various studies, including that by the World Bank, have established that data impacted directly on national development.

For every 10 percentage point growth in mobile broadband, there is a corresponding growth of between 1.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent in a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“It is, therefore, clear that data is a significant stimulant to national development and noted that “from that perspective we are contributing significantly to national development,” Mr Asante said.

MTN/NCR collaboration

Mr Asante assured the NCR of MTN’s support and collaboration towards training and public sensitisation on matters bordering on the sector.

“Ours is not just to build business and make money and do community services but also to build capacity. We can make some of our top technical officers provide training that will be bespoke and practical. This will help you to report the real substance because you understand the issues,” he said.

NCR responds

The Dean of the NCR, Mr Charles Benoni Okine, said NCR was formed about four years ago to among others be an interface between the stakeholders in the telecom sector and the public.  

“We realise that most of the time customers do not know what happens in the sector while the telcos are also not able to relate to their customers in ways that they can better understand their challenges and this results in banter most of the time,” he said

As a result, Mr Okine said through frequent capacity building of members, the relationship between telcos and their customers would be improved.

He said NCR had more than 45 members nationwide and it intended to hold a workshop in Kumasi for members in the northern sector before the end of the year.

Mr Okine said NCR was also working towards developing a website that would be a news portal where members could contribute articles about the sector.