American Tower Corporation (ATC) Ghana’s subsidiary has prevailed in a formal arbitration against AT Ghana at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration over accumulated unpaid tower fees, according to a source close to the proceedings, bringing to a legal close a contract dispute that has shadowed Ghana’s telecommunications sector for several years.
The arbitration centred on fees AT Ghana owed ATC for access to tower infrastructure across its national network. Under tower-sharing arrangements standard to the industry, mobile operators pay tower companies recurring fees for access to masts, power supply, and related services. Payments to ATC fell into arrears over successive years, and by March 2025, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George had publicly disclosed before Parliament that the figure owed to ATC alone had reached GH¢1.5 billion, part of a total debt burden on AT Ghana’s books that the minister estimated at over GH¢3.5 billion, equivalent to approximately US$225 million at prevailing exchange rates.
The matter had already drawn the attention of Ghanaian courts. In January 2025, the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra granted ATC an interim injunction preventing Airtel Ghana from transferring or disposing of its assets, pending the conclusion of the ICC arbitration process. Justice Sheila Minta, who presided over that application, ruled the order necessary to preserve the integrity of the arbitration and ensure any award could be enforced.
Faced with continued non-payment, ATC began disconnecting power to AT Ghana’s radio access network sites on September 1, 2025, putting over three million subscribers at immediate risk of service disruption. The National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations intervened, directing AT Ghana and Telecel Ghana to implement national roaming to safeguard subscribers. The government also appointed KPMG to conduct a 60-day financial review of AT Ghana, with a mandate to assess options including fresh investment or a merger with Telecel.
The ICC ruling now adds a formal legal dimension to AT Ghana’s already complex restructuring situation. Canadian firm Rektron Group, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government in May 2025 to acquire a 60 percent majority stake in AT Ghana in partnership with local firm Afritel Ghana, will need to account for the enforceability of ATC’s award in its due diligence. Any prospective investor assumes exposure to the award, which Ghanaian courts are obligated to recognise under the country’s obligations as a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
Legal practitioners note that how promptly and completely the award is enforced will be closely watched by infrastructure investors assessing Ghana’s dispute resolution environment, particularly as the country’s Digital Agenda 2030 framework commits to attracting private capital into the telecommunications and digital infrastructure sectors.
Neither ATC Ghana, AT Ghana, nor the Ministry of Communications had issued a public statement on the ICC outcome at the time of publication. NewsGhana has sought comment from all three parties.
