Bharti Airtel confirmed full ownership of its Ghana joint venture with Millicom had been transferred to the country’s government, ending a process started in October 2020 when the two groups revealed an aim to leave the market.

In a brief statement filed with the National Stock Exchange of India today (3 November), Airtel confirmed the deal had concluded as planned, with 100 per cent of AirtelTigo shares now with the Ghanaian Government.

Earlier this year, Ghana’s Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation released a statement confirming it had negotiated the transfer of AirtelTigo’s customer base, assets and “agreed liabilities”.

At the time it noted the operator would be run by the state in the “best interest of the nation, the company, telecommunications industry, and ensure the protection of the interests of all employees, customers, contractors, suppliers, stakeholders and sustain the digital transformation of Ghana”.

Although financial details of the deal were not formally announced by either operator, in April Bloomberg reported AirtelTigo had been purchased for $1.