Ghana has made a sharp U-turn on its 5G strategy, revoking the exclusive licence held by Next Gen Infraco (NGIC) and preparing to auction 5G spectrum to multiple telecom operators — a decision that could finally bring commercial 5G services to one of Africa's largest mobile markets.
MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana have both confirmed they will bid in the upcoming auction, which is expected to begin within weeks. The shift marks a dramatic departure from the wholesale infrastructure model Ghana had pursued for years.
What Went Wrong With the Old Model
The previous plan centred on NGIC building a single wholesale 5G network that all mobile operators would then lease and use. In theory, it sounded efficient — shared infrastructure, lower costs, no one operator dominating. In practice, it moved at a crawl.
By March 2026, only 49 5G sites had been deployed across the country, a fraction of the government's target of 1,200 sites by 2027. NGIC had partnered with Radisys, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, to build out the network — but results simply did not follow.
After taking office in 2025, Communications Minister Sam George publicly criticised the pace of the rollout. By 2026, Ghana's communications regulator had already signalled it would scrap NGIC's exclusive licence, paving the way for this week's announcement.
Ghana Is Playing Catch-Up
Ghana remains one of the few significant African telecom markets still without commercial 5G services — and the gap with its regional peers is widening fast.
South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria have each spent the past several years expanding their 5G footprints. Ghana's slow rollout under the NGIC model has left it trailing in a region that is increasingly treating next-generation connectivity as infrastructure rather than a luxury.
Faster 5G deployment, if it materialises, could open doors in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, fintech, manufacturing, and smart city applications — sectors where Ghana has ambitions but needs the bandwidth to match.
Why the Government Is Betting on Competition
Officials now believe that letting operators build and manage their own 5G networks will accelerate deployment, sharpen service quality, and attract more private investment. It is a logic that is played out in other markets: competition tends to move faster than monopoly.
The previous administration had backed the NGIC wholesale approach partly out of concern that MTN Ghana — already the country's dominant operator — would entrench its market lead if allowed to build its own 5G infrastructure. That caution did not pay off. The network barely got off the ground.
For MTN Ghana and Telecel Ghana, the auction represents a direct shot at shaping the country's 5G future rather than depending on a third-party network they do not control. For consumers, it could eventually mean genuinely competitive high-speed mobile internet — something Ghana's market has been waiting on for years.
The broader signal here extends beyond Ghana's borders. Across the continent, governments are growing more willing to revisit digital infrastructure strategies that are not delivering — scrapping exclusivity agreements and opting for open competition when the original model stalls. Ghana's decision, while overdue, fits a pattern of pragmatic policy correction that is increasingly defining African telecoms in 2026.
The auction timeline has not been pinned to a specific date, but the government has indicated it wants to move quickly. After years of near-zero progress, the pressure to show results is real.