Reliance sets sights on Africa, plans telco ops in Ghana

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is set to enter Africa as a strategic partner to a  Ghana-based telecom operator to provide 5G services in the country, Bloomberg reported. 

Reliance group firm Radisys Corp. will provide key network infrastructure, applications, and smartphones for the company, Next-Gen InfraCo. (NGIC), which is a joint venture between two African telecoms firms—Ascend Digital Solutions Ltd. and K-NET. 

While Ascend and K-NET will hold a combined stake of 55% in the new company, the Ghana government will own under 10% of NGIC. 

Local mobile operators and private investors will retain the remaining shares in NGIC, the Bloomberg report said. 

Ascend chief executive Harkirit Singh will head the joint venture as executive director. 

While Reliance does not currently own any equity in NGIC, the company will give them an option to accept part of the payments as equity in future, Singh said.

NGIC has the exclusive right to offer 5G services in the African nation of 33 million for a decade, and it is set to begin operations by the end of this year.

NGIC’s official launch was set to be announced on Monday in Mumbai. 

The company “is based on a premise of building affordable digital services in emerging markets,” Singh was cited as saying by Bloomberg.

Nokia Oyj, Tech Mahindra Ltd., and Microsoft Corp. are among other strategic partners in NGIC.

While Ghana has three main telecom operators—MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, and state-run AirtelTigo—NGIC holds the country’s only 5G licence, valid for 15 years. 

NGIC will invest about $200 million in three years to scale up its 4G and 5G networks, and will offer them to mobile operators in Africa as a shared infrastructure resource, The Economic Times reported.

“We are pleased to be part of this strategic partnership in Ghana and in Africa and look forward to working with all strategic partners in realising NGIC’s vision,” Radisys chief executive Arun Bhikshesvaran told ET.

Radisys is a US-based telecom solutions provider, which was acquired by Reliance in a deal estimated at $74 million in 2018.