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MTN is treating a case brought against its Ghana fintech operation as frivolous. Group CEO Ralph Mupita says the mobile operator has made no provisions around the matter, a sign of confidence in MTN’s position.
In early August, MTN rejected claims relating to the alleged unauthorised use of its intellectual property and plans to contest them in court.
MTN Ghana had been served with a writ of summons and statement of claim relating to IT and fintech company Clydestone Ghana’s alleged role in the initiation of mobile money services in Ghana.
The matter dates back almost 20 years, and according to Mupita, the case has no substance.
“On the claim in Ghana, we do believe it’s frivolous. We did not put anything into contingent liability or provisions against the claim, but we’ll obviously have to defend it in court. But our point is that this is a frivolous claim,” Mupita told Business Day on Monday as the group reported half-year earnings to June 2026.
Companies typically set aside certain amounts of money when faced with serious legal action, to be used to settle a matter or for legal costs, among other things.
On July 28 Clydestone Ghana started legal proceedings in the high court in Accra against MTN Ghana, MTN Group and MobileMoney Fintech, claiming that proprietary intellectual property, confidential commercial information and operational methodology developed during a commissioned engagement in 2007 were subsequently used without authorisation or compensation.
It is seeking declarations, damages and equitable remedies.
Clydestone said MTN Ghana approached it in 2007 to develop a comprehensive commercial and operational framework for the launch of a mobile money business in Ghana. The engagement formed part of an established commercial relationship between the parties dating back to 1998.
It said the work was personally authored and delivered by the company’s founder and group CEO, Paul Jacquaye, and comprised a complete mobile money ecosystem, including the commercial model, operational architecture, implementation methodology and supporting business case.
“Clydestone contends that the work was commissioned on the understanding that the parties would execute a nondisclosure agreement and memorandum of understanding governing its use. According to the company’s claim, those agreements were never executed despite repeated requests and promises to execute,” it said.
Clydestone alleges that MTN Ghana subsequently used its proprietary work, commercial methodology and operational intelligence without authorisation or compensation. It also claims that elements of the operational architecture and commercial model later implemented within MTN Mobile Money Ghana and deployed across multiple African jurisdictions materially derive from that commissioned work.
MTN Ghana has said it does not “accept the claims made, considers them without merit, and will contest the proceedings fully”.
