Shaibu Haruna interacting with journalists
A TOTAL of 1,443,918,868 beneficiary shareholders of Scancom PLC (MTN Ghana) has, by a majority vote of 99.95%, approved the merger of Mobile Money Limited (MML) and Mobile Money Fintech Limited.
Additionally, a total of 88,092 were against the merger, while 4,445 of the shareholders abstained from either approving or disapproving the merger.
This indicates that shareholders have agreed for all businesses, assets, liabilities of MML be transferred to the newly incorporated company, Mobile Money Fintech Limited.
Also, 1,203,029,241 beneficiary shareholders totaling to 99.95% have approved the waiver of a fairness report, a document which typically contains the assessment of the fairness of a merger.
The move which was done during the extraordinary general meeting in Accra forms part of MTN’s efforts to comply with Bank of Ghana’s directive requiring dedicated electronic money issuers to maintain at least 30 percent Ghanaian ownership in line with the Payment Systems and Services Act of 2019 (Act 987).
The CEO of Mobile Money Limited (MoMo), Shaibu Haruna, said following the approval by beneficiaries during the voting period, Money FinTech Limited will merge with Mobile Money.
“And obviously, Mobile Money Fintech Limited will become the surviving entity. For that reason, what this means is that it’s a structural change with no real customer impact in terms of the name—Momo from MTN will still remain, and our customers will continue to enjoy the great services that we have,” he said.
He added that the new development allows the company to be more innovative highlighting the collaboration with the bank of Ghana, saying, “we will be actively supporting bank of Ghana’s initiative to drive financial inclusion and ensure that every single Ghanaian has access to digital spend.”
According to Mr. Haruna following the authorisation and approval from shareholders, said, “obviously no objection to this arrangement, and there is also a court process that will bring finality to this process. So we, by the virtue of this approval that we have, we are strengthening to go the next level in terms of making sure that all the regulatory steps are taken to ensure that our business is fully compliant with all the laws of Ghana.”
Chairperson of MobileMoney Fintech Limited, Victoria Bright, speaking with journalist explained that the companies seek to focus on completing a digital transformation and achieving operational independence from Scancom PLC while emphasising that the company would focus on enhancing governance and leadership structures in preparation for the eventual listing.
By Prince Fiifi Yorke