Millicom International Cellular S.A. ("Millicom") and Bharti Airtel Limited ("Airtel"), today announced that they have, through their respective subsidiaries, entered into an agreement for Tigo Ghana Limited and Airtel Ghana Limited to combine their operations in Ghana.

This was announced on Friday, March 3, 2017.

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Executive Vice President, Millicom Africa, Mohamed Dabbour, said the merger will offer Ghanaians and businesses in Ghana quality network with high-speed mobile data coverage.

"In a highly fragmented telecom market, this deal represents a major milestone for our business in Ghana. The combination of Tigo and Airtel will create an operator that will be able to offer Ghanaian consumers and businesses a state of the art network with high-speed mobile data coverage. This transaction underlines confidence in the Ghanaian economy, and provides the opportunity to develop nationwide digital infrastructure and services in Ghana."

MD and CEO, Airtel Africa, Raghunath Mandava, said: "The agreement highlights our commitment to the Ghana market and our customers. The coming together of the two entities will benefit customers, who can now enjoy an extensive combined network and a wider range of affordable and innovative products and services. It will further strengthen our position in the market and offer huge benefits arising out of synergies in operations, resulting in better experience for the customers."

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The joint entity is expected to be a strong number two operator with nearly 10 million customers, including over 5.6 Million data customers.

The combined entity is to deliver superior voice and data services over a wider network footprint.

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It would cover more than 80% of Ghana's population with high-speed data, providing the widest 3G coverage across the country, and would have revenues close to $300m, making it one of the largest communications companies in Ghana.

The transaction is still in the process of obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities in Ghana and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.