Ghana’s government has issued an ultimatum to satellite broadcaster DStv, demanding a reduction in subscription fees by Thursday or facing suspension of its broadcasting licence.
The directive, announced by Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George, follows the company’s rejection of a government-backed proposal for a 30 per cent price cut.
“I have directed the NCA to act swiftly. If by the 7th of August DStv has not complied, their broadcasting licence will be suspended,” George said, referring to the National Communications Authority, Ghana’s broadcasting regulator.
George criticised DStv’s justification for its current pricing, which cited the depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi over 200 per cent in eight years as inadequate, especially amid ongoing economic hardship.
“My fidelity lies with the Ghanaian people. They have been cheated for years, and it is time we put an end to that,” he said.
MultiChoice Ghana, a subsidiary of South Africa’s MultiChoice Group, dismissed the government’s directive as “not tenable,” citing economic conditions and the need to maintain service quality.
Managing Director Alex Okyere warned that forced price cuts could impact jobs and limit customer options. The company said it had submitted alternative proposals to the minister and the regulator.
George, responding on social media platform X, rejected those proposals and questioned why MultiChoice complied with a court order to suspend price hikes in Nigeria but refused a similar adjustment in Ghana.
The company’s offer to maintain current rates while withholding revenue remittance to headquarters was described by George as “illogical.”
The report comes amidst various challenges in neighbouring country, Nigeria, as the company recently slashed its prices, after losing 1.4 million subscribers between March 2023 and March 2025, Multichoice claims the initiative was its response “to the noticeable economic impact on the everyday lives of Nigerians.”
“By repositioning itself as a platform for daily value, DStv aims to encourage content discovery across a wider array of genres, including movies, drama, kids’ programming, and news,” the company stated.
