MTN Ghana executives at the Digital Transformation Conference 2026 in Accra this week urged telecommunications companies to challenge global tech platforms for digital advertising revenue, arguing that operators hold customer data assets that companies like Google and Meta cannot replicate.
General Manager for Consumer Marketing Nana Asantewaa Amegashie told conference delegates that telecom operators possess verified identity systems, mobile money transaction data, rich location intelligence and access to millions of customers at scale, competitive advantages that could anchor independent digital advertising ecosystems.
She argued that global technology companies currently rely heavily on telecommunications infrastructure financed and maintained by operators including MTN Group while capturing a disproportionate share of digital advertising revenues and customer relationships.
Amegashie said the strategic response was to consolidate those assets into unified customer intelligence platforms capable of supporting private digital marketplaces and advertising ecosystems built on verified behavioural data rather than inferred assumptions.
“That may well define the next era of digital competition,” she said.
Beyond advertising, Chief Digital Officer Ibrahim Mitso said MTN Ghana had evolved from a telecommunications operator into a platform business, now offering application programming interfaces (APIs), website-building tools and digital advertising through MTN Ads, alongside expanding interests in gaming and premium media content.
Senior Manager for Large Enterprise Godwin Adzimah reinforced the strategic shift, telling participants that successful digital transformation required strategy, technology and people to advance together rather than in isolation.
The conference brought together enterprises, media partners and industry stakeholders across Ghana’s digital ecosystem to explore innovation in artificial intelligence (AI), automation, customer personalisation and data-driven decision-making.
