International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor has urged MTN and authorities in Ghana to deal with a R13 billion tax dispute urgently.
Ghana is the mobile operator, MTN’s third-biggest market, and the South African company was hit with a surprise R13 billion back-tax bill from the Ghana Revenue Authority early this month.
Media reports suggested that the ban was due to a new methodology to track call data records.
Pandor said the government was committed to promoting South African investment in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa.
“The minister calls on the parties involved to do everything possible to find an amicable solution to these reported challenges,” the department said.
“South Africa is one of the largest foreign direct investors in Ghana, mainly in mining, communication, beverages, retail, and franchising, etc. These investments contribute to the Ghanaian gross domestic product and job creation.
Of major concern is that competitors of South African companies from other parts of the world do not appear to be subjected to the challenges that South African companies are subjected to.
Fin24 reports that the minister previously met with CEOs of South African companies operating in the continent, and according the department’s statement they told her of a number of difficulties, including “unfavourable market conditions and inconsistent regulatory frameworks, inconsistent tax regimes, repatriation of funds and delays in loan repayments.”
BusinessTech Africa also reported that mobile telephone network operator, MTN said it will dispute the tax bill imposed by the Ghanaian authorities last week.
As the African continent’s largest wireless network carrier, MTN said it plans to start a dispute resolution process if talks with Ghanaian tax authorities over a surprise $773 million (R13.2 billion) back-tax bill it received last week fail.
Prior to launching that process, the South African company is engaging with authorities to resolve the unexpected bill that came after the Ghanaian tax agency switched to a new methodology to track call data records based on the advice of a third-party consultant, Group Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita recently said.
