Celtel finally takes over Westel in Ghana

Celtel has finally taken over Ghanaian telecom network, Westel, following the conclusion of agreements with the Government of Ghana which sold the company to the pan African mobile operator several weeks ago.

The signing of the agreement with the communications ministry which took place last Friday gives the new owners the right to move into operations.

The Government announced Celtel as the winner of the bids in October but the final endorsement delayed till now.

Westel is the second national operator in Ghana and is licensed to provide fixed and mobile (GSM) telecommunications services.

Celtel will launch enhanced telecom services nationwide in the first half of 2008 according to Celtel parent company, Zain Group, a leading mobile telecommunications network operator in the Middle East and Africa.

The delay in handing over the operation to Celtel was believed to have been caused by the need to work out the finer details of operational rules or issues including the approval of a tax holidays to Celtel.

With the signing of the agreement, the issues appears to have now been resolved paving the way for the African operator owned by Zain Group to move into the company.

Meanwhile the selection of the winner for Ghana Telecom is still being finalized, although the transaction advisors have already passed on their recommendations to government.

Celtel hopes to quickly turn around the network by investing heavily in network coverage expansion, improvement in quality of service and in other critical areas of the business such as human capital development.

Zain Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Saad Al Barrak, the acquisition of Westel is important to Celtel as it give the mobile operator a “gateway to West Africa”. Celtel operates in a number of West African countries including Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone, among others.

The company also looks forward to promoting Ghana as a gateway to West Africa through its One Network, the world’s first borderless network.

One Network offers Celtel’s customers the opportunity to move freely across geographical borders using the same services they would access in their home country, and to make calls without roaming surcharges and without having to pay to receive incoming calls and messages.

The service will also permit customers to buy and top up with local airtime when they visit other countries in which One Network is operational. Celtel’s One Network service is currently operational for over 400 million people across six nations in East, Central and West Africa.

Dr Al-Barrak said the company is looking forward to offering Ghanaians the quality telecommunications services which it offer phone users in all the countries in which it operates. He explained that based on Celtel’s pan-African experience the group is confident that the increased competition in the Ghanaian telecommunications industry will benefit the people and support the already robust national economy of the country.

Ghana has a fast growing and attractive telecom market and rapid growth in mobile subscribers in the last twelve months has reached an approximately 56%. The low mobile penetration (approximately 28%) offers significant growth prospects.

With a population of over 22 million people, Ghana is the ninth largest country of the 47 sub-Saharan nations, giving Zain’s subsidiary, Celtel, a presence in seven of the nine largest sub-Saharan African countries by population. 

The acquisition of Westel cements Zain’s leading position in Africa mobile market through the Celtel brand, which currently has its footprint in 14 countries and has over 24 million customers. With the addition of Ghana, Celtel is now present in 15 African countries, bringing the Zain Group’s total operations to 22 networks (countries).

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