ACCRA – Tensions are brewing between pay-TV operator MultiChoice and Ghana’s Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation over calls to reduce DStv subscription fees.
The dispute became public after the Minister, Mr Samuel Nartey George, criticised the company’s pricing model and demanded immediate cuts to monthly subscription charges. MultiChoice Ghana responded over the weekend, saying it had already proposed a new avenue for discussions with both the Minister and the National Communications Authority (NCA).
According to a statement issued by MultiChoice Ghana Managing Director Alex Okyere on Saturday, the company is “concerned” by the Minister’s position and insists it has tried to engage with the government in “good faith.”
The broadcaster, which has operated in Ghana for more than three decades, warned that a continued standoff could affect thousands of livelihoods in its local value chain, including employees, installers, dealers, and retailers.
MultiChoice maintained it has not dismissed the recent appreciation of the Ghanaian Cedi but argued that the Minister’s proposed price reduction is not sustainable, given what it described as “challenging competitive and macro-economic conditions.”
The company also distanced itself from reported remarks calling the Cedi’s gains a “fluke,” a term it insists it never used.
While assuring subscribers of its ongoing efforts to keep prices as low as possible without cutting down on content quality, MultiChoice reiterated its willingness to continue talks with the Minister and to operate within the country’s legal framework.
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