The richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of $92 billion has set his eyes on the African market by moving to invest in Ghana’s telecom market.
The move includes a partnership with an indigenous Ghanaian telecom project to improve telecommunications in the country through 5G tech solutions.
Radisys Corp., a subsidiary of Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd will enter a partnership with Ghana’s Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) where Ambani’s Radisys Corp will supply NGIC with essential network infrastructure, applications, and smartphones a Bloomberg report stated.
The executive director of NGIC, Harkirit Singh made the development public ahead of the NGIC launch announcement scheduled to be held today in Mumbai which serves as India’s financial hub.
NGIC aims to offer 5G broadband services to Ghanaian phone users and internet service providers and is hoping to start operations by the end of this year.
Mr. Singh outlined the company’s goal and mission and how it aligns with what it hopes to achieve in Ghana.
“The company is based on a premise of building affordable digital services in emerging markets,” said Singh.
Ghana, a country of 33 million people is an emerging market in Africa and as of today has three major telecom operators which include MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, and AirtelTigo which is run by the state.
Mr. Singh explained that NGIC is positioned to build broadband services at scale due to its strategic partners, possession of Ghana’s only 5G license, and technological know-how.
NGIC is partly owned by two African telecom firms that hold a combined 55% stake in the company. They include Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd. and K-NET Mr. Singh explained.
The Ghanaian government has a stake of 10% in NGIC and the rest of the shares are owned by private players and local mobile operators.
Mukesh Ambani’s Radisys Corp entering a partnership with Ghana-based NGIC is a strategic business move to grow Indian influence in the African continent and checkmate Chinese near-monopoly at the moment.
Nigeria remains the largest telecoms market in Africa with a 7% year-on-year growth rate and could make use of such private investments to stir competition in the country’s telecom space and increase value for end users.
What To Know
- Radisys Corp is a subsidiary of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries. Reliance Industries is the largest private-sector company in India. It is involved in the oil refining, petrochemical, gas, retail, textile businesses, and now Telecommunications business.
- Ghana’s NGIC entering a partnership with Radisys Corp has secured exclusive rights to offer 5G services in Ghana for up to a decade, with license extending to up to 15 years.
- The Nigerian Telecommunication sector is rife with poor internet services despite claiming to be 5G making users opt for fresh alternatives like Elon Musk’s Starlink and indigenous Internet service providers like FibreOne
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