Saturday, August 02, 2008

Ghana - privatisation

Ghana Telecom's Privatisation Faces Legal Challenge

Concerned Ghanaians—a protest group—has said that it has launched legal proceedings against the sale of a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone. The group says that it plans to file a writ in the coming days with the aim of obtaining a court order to ban the deal. The group argues that the deal undervalues Ghana Telecom and as such is not in the best interest of Ghanaians. According to local sources, parliament will convene an extraordinary session on 12 August 2008 to discuss the issue.

Significance: Organised opposition to the deal appears to be mounting. The issue has become an electoral one: with elections in December 2008, the opposition is ramping up pressure on the government to abandon the sale. However, given Ghana Telecom’s loss-making status and high levels of debt, it remains unclear whether another bidder would emerge.

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