Group Vice President Ebenezer Asante sees stake in MTN Ghana rise by $330,000

MTN Group West and Central Africa Region Vice President Ebenezer Asante has seen his stake in MTN Ghana increase by $330,531 (GH₵1.92 million) in less than two weeks.

The $330,531 in gains were triggered by the recent surge in the company’s shares amid renewed buying interest by investors on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

The buying interest is linked to the recent disclosure that MTN Ghana plans to increase local ownership in the company to 25 percent by the close of the year.

The telecom operator’s wholly-owned subsidiary, MobileMoney Limited (MoMo), is also expected to achieve 30-percent localization of its shareholding as part of the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) license requirements.

These disclosures sent MTN Ghana shares up by 24 percent, returning impressive gains for shareholders who have been patient enough to hold on to the company’s stake.

The renewed buying interest in MTN Ghana on the local bourse sent the market price of the company’s shares to a near all-time high of $0.22 (GH₵1.27) per share on May 6.

However, today’s shares closed $0.80 percent lower on the Ghana Stock Exchange amid profit-taking activities by wary retail investors.

Since the start of June, the company’s shares have surged by 24 percent from $0.17 (GH₵1.00) per share on June 1 to $0.21 (GH₵1.24) per share at close of market today.

Since the beginning of this month, the increase in the company’s share price has returned impressive gains to Asante, the single largest individual shareholder in the company, who holds a stake of 8,000,100 shares in the telecom operator.

The market value of his stake in MTN Ghana has increased from $1.38 million (GH₵8 million) on June 1 to $1.71 million (GH₵9.92 million) at the close of market today.

This translates to a gain of about $330,000 for the group vice president in 13 days.