Telecom giant MTN paid an amount of 2.6 billion in taxes to the government of Ghana last year, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr Selorm Adedevoh has said.

Mr Adedevor announced this at a forum held for senior editors in Accra on Friday August 20.

“GHS2.6billion taxes paid last year to support the government’s drive for growing revenue,” he said.

He also said currently MTN represents close to 80 per cent of the trading on the Ghana stock exchange (GSE) adding that the company is looking forward to seeing more companies join the narrative.

“Today I am proud to say MTN represents close to 80per cent of trades on the Ghana stock exchange.

“We are looking forward to see more companies join,” he said.

He added that the leading telecom company will not relax following this milestone rather, they will continue to look for opportunities to improve on what they do.

“But for us, it is never a story of ending. We always look at the future and we think about the opportunities and how we can improve on what we do.

“The ambition continues to be the same, we continue to brighten the lives of Ghanaians have done.”

Regarding the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Mr Adedevoh said there is the need to put the right technological infrastructure in place in order to succeed.

The AfCFTA is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the 55 African Union nations.

The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Accra, Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AfCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2020 in Accra.

Mr Adadevoh said “We see an open of borders, trade, services across borders.

“One of the things that will make the countries do well is technology. Ghana’s is desire to become a digital economy is great but we won’t get there without infrastructure.”

He assured that MTN will make Ghana the technology centre for AFTCFA.