Vodafone Group Plc (“Vodafone”) has completed the sale of its 70% shareholding in Vodafone Ghana (GTCL) to Telecel Group. The sale of its Ghanaian operation follows a trend of strategic repositioning by Vodafone and Vodacom Group Limited (“Vodacom”) across African markets.
In 2019, Vodacom sold its Vodacom Business Africa operations and assets in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Angola, and Cote d’Ivoire. By the sale of these businesses, Vodacom stopped directly offering services to global enterprise customers in these markets, however, positions itself to operate as a pan-African enterprise player in partnership with Synergy Communications in Nigeria, Zambia, and Cote d’Ivoire; Internet Technologies Angola (ITA) in Angola and Vodafone Ghana in Ghana.
In 2021, Vodacom through Safaricom expanded into Ethiopia and acquired a 15-year mobile telecom license for about $850 million. Safaricom is expected to invest about $8 billion in Ethiopia to attract and retain talent, partner with local infrastructure companies, and build IT and network infrastructure to support its connectivity and digital offerings. Safaricom also recently got approval to operate its mobile payment service in Ethiopia and is expected to pay a licensing fee of $150 million for operating mobile money services.
Also in 2021, Vodacom made a significant investment in South Africa as it acquired a 30% stake in InfraCo; a subsidiary of Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH). The investment is valued at about $862 million (a combination of cash, the contribution of its own fiber assets into InfraCo, and the purchase of secondary shares). This investment is expected to grant Vodacom access to the fiber assets of Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa (DFA); both owned by InfraCo. Vumatel operates a high-speed FTTH network, using a wholesale open-access model, the network spans over 31,000 km across over 1.2 million homes. DFA offers carrier-grade dark fibre and operates a national metro fibre network spanning 13,200 km and 37,000 connected circuits.
Furthermore, following Vodafone’s transfer of its 35% stake in Safaricom Kenya to Vodacom in 2017 and the transfer of its 55% shareholding in Vodafone Egypt to Vodacom in 2022, the parent company i.e Vodafone positions to simplify management and consolidation of its African operations under Vodacom. Therefore, Vodacom can cement its position in South Africa and as well diversify into new attractive markets across Africa like Ethiopia as it seeks new growth frontiers. For Telecel, it’s an opportunity to maximize consumer and enterprise segments in Ghana’s connectivity, IT, digital services and fintech markets.