The shareholding of Ghanaian multimillionaire executive Ebenezer Twum Asante in the leading telecom company, Scancom PLC (MTN Ghana), is now worth ₵9.6 million ($1.56 million). MTN Ghana, a subsidiary of the multinational telecom service provider MTN Group, is Ghana’s largest telecom operator, with a total subscriber base of 25.2 million and 11.9 million active data subscribers as of Sept. 2021. Its revenue lines, including airtime and subscription, interconnect and roaming, SMS, data, handsets and accessories, mobile money, and value-added services generated ₵5.56 billion ($906 million) in revenue in the first nine months of its current financial year. Asante, the first Ghanaian to head MTN’s operations in Ghana, holds a beneficial 0.65-percent stake in the country’s telecom service provider, making him the single largest individual shareholder, with an ownership stake of 8,000,100 ordinary shares. As of press time, Nov. 26, shares in the company were trading at ₵1.2 ($0.1955) on the Ghana Stock Exchange, unchanged from their opening price on Thurs., Nov. 25, as bearish and bullish sentiments were evenly cleared out. At the current price, the market value of Asante’s stake is ₵9.6 million ($1.56 million), making him one of the wealthiest investors on the local exchange. Research conducted by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Asante, who is MTN group vice president for West and Central Africa, has seen the market value of his stake in the leading telecom service provider increase by more than $720,000 since the start of the year. The year-to-date gain in the market value of his stake can be linked to the 87.5-percent surge in the share price of MTN Ghana on the Ghana Stock Exchange, as investors sustained buying interest in the company. In the first nine months of 2021, the company’s revenue surged by 24.9 percent from ₵4.46 billion ($726.3 million) in 2020 to ₵5.56 billion ($906 million), while its profit surged by 34 percent from ₵875.86 million ($142.61 million) to ₵1.06 billion ($172.6 million). —billionaires.africa Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

MTN Ghana has taken another giant step by donating five million Ghana Cedis (GH¢5,000,000) to the  National COVID Trust Fund to help complement the government’s fight against the pandemic. This donation is in addition to an earlier donation of five million Ghana Cedis (GH¢5,000,000) worth of PPE and Testing Accessories presented to the Trust Fund last year. Speaking at the handing over ceremony in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana Mr. Selorm Adadevoh, said as a company they are committed to the socio-economic development of Ghana. “We are honored to have been able to complement the Government’s efforts in managing the pandemic through the donation of 5 million Cedis worth of PPEs and testing equipment to the country,” he stated. This he said, since the outbreak of the virus, the company has supported Ghanaians with many interventions to lessen the impact of the pandemic on the nation’s socio-economic infrastructure. One of the key things which we needed to address was to boost our Network to support work from home, online school, entertainment, and other digital activities. Our aim then and now is to help ensure continuity of life, business, and wellbeing. We are proud to have also contributed to three educational campaigns aimed at getting people to live responsibly. Our “Be Wise”, Wear it for me” and “One More Push” campaigns were to encourage people across the continent to not give up in the fight against COVID-19, and to continue to wear their masks, wash their hands and practice social distancing. According to him, on the vaccination front, MTN Group donated $25million to support AU’s vaccination rollout across 55 member states to cover 7 million vaccine doses for health workers. “Having acknowledged that we have all collectively played our roles in this fight against COVID-19, MTN Ghana and its Foundation have approved an additional GHc5m to be presented to National COVID Trust Fund. It is to ensure the Government’s strategy in combating the pandemic is fully achieved. This presentation brings MTN’s total contribution to the National COVID Trust Fund to GhS10m. We believe this will help immensely to provide the needed PPEs for the people of Ghana and most importantly brighten lives as we celebrate our 25th anniversary,” he added. He also used the occasion to congratulate the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Government for taking the needed measures in managing the spread of the disease in the Country. The Chairperson of the COVID -19 National Trust Funds, Her Ladyship Justice (RTD) Sophia A.B. Akuffo who received the cheque on behalf of the COVID -19 National Trust Funds commended MTN Ghana for embarking on such benevolence exercise; adding that the contribution has come at the right time. “Since the contribution to the Trust Fund have dwindled and almost halted.  This was a result of the general perception that, the COVID-19 pandemic is either no more with us or is a pandemic for others to combat,” she disclosed. Stressing that, there is the need for collaborative efforts on the parts of all stakeholders to effectively help fight the pandemic. “We also need to support the promotion of research on the Coronavirus, its different variants the behaviour patterns, as well as the potency and efficacy of the various approved vaccines, especially the research on post-vaccination. For example the COVID-19 Specific Antibody Response in Vaccinated Persons in the Country, which has already been started by the  Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), of the University of Ghana, Legon. This she said, the Trust Fund has also established a collaborative partnership with the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) to jointly implement a Road Safety and Coronavirus education campaign. According to her, the campaign seeks to educate drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other road users on the need to be careful on the roads especially during the Christmas period. “Since Christmas is also a spike period of the Coronavirus pandemic, due to the increase in trade and commerce, as well as the increase in the movement of people, goods, and services. It is therefore imperative to include COVID-19 education and information sensitization with that of the road safety education campaign.   All these require substantial financial and other logistical resources,” she disclosed. She, therefore, urged the general public to continue to adhere to the prevention and safety protocols in order to avoid the spread of the virus. —newsghana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093