{"id":92876,"date":"2025-09-06T03:17:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92876"},"modified":"2025-09-06T03:17:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:17:26","slug":"multichoice-sam-george-showdown-ghanas-envoy-to-sa-worried-about-repercussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=92876","title":{"rendered":"MultiChoice-Sam George showdown: Ghana\u2019s envoy to SA worried about repercussions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 41 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Ghana\u2019s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin A. Quashie, has raised concerns that Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George\u2019s approach in the standoff with satellite television giant MultiChoice could unsettle investor confidence at a time when the country is seeking to attract foreign capital.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to JoyNews\u2019 Blessed Sogah, Ghana\u2019s envoy in Pretoria admitted that the minister\u2019s approach had put diplomats in a tight corner as they try to market Ghana as a safe and attractive destination for investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see, what makes it difficult for some of us as diplomats is that we\u2019ve just gone through orientation, and we\u2019ve been given KPIs. The KPIs we need to achieve them because there\u2019s a reset agenda that has to do with diplomacy as well, and I believe that ambassadors are supposed to go out there, get people to come and invest in the country and all of that. So when it happens, like, it becomes a bit challenging,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Mr Quashie noted that South African investors and multinationals could easily misinterpret the standoff as a trade dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have an election to win, you have a grassroots or base to satisfy, and then you have investors also who would bring in the cash very well. So that is where we need to, again, go into this with diplomacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Ambassador\u2019s comment comes at a time when the minister has resolved to shut down DStv over a price war.<\/p>\n

In a strongly worded social media post on Friday night, Samuel George threatened to close MultiChoice Ghana by Saturday, September 6, unless the company immediately slashes its subscription fees, which he described as exploitative.<\/p>\n

\"MultiChoice-Sam<\/figure>\n

\u201cLet me be clear, I have no intention to continue tolerating the disrespect to Ghanaians by DStv. If they have changed their position, then we simply would enforce the regulatory action. No company is above the law,\u201d the minister declared in his post.<\/p>\n

The ultimatum has sharpened fears of a regulatory clash that could have wide commercial and diplomatic repercussions. <\/p>\n

MultiChoice, operators of DStv and GOtv, is one of the largest South African businesses in Ghana. <\/p>\n

Its operations are seen as a bellwether for other investors from the continent\u2019s most industrialised economy. <\/p>\n

Already, memories linger of Shoprite\u2019s sudden exit from Ghana in 2021, which cost hundreds of jobs and sent shockwaves through the business community.<\/p>\n

The diplomat disclosed that his office had already started receiving calls from South African business circles worried about whether Ghana was sliding into a \u201ctrade war\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see, at the end of the day, when we are fighting and we make it look \u2013 now I\u2019m hearing people call and say you are fighting. I have told them that there\u2019s no war. We are not at war with them. We are not fighting with them. South Africa is a big economy, whether we like it or not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On MultiChoice\u2019s position, the envoy suggested the company was not against tariff reductions but wanted more time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMulti Choice\u2019s opinion is about the timeline within which the minister is giving. Multi Choice is not saying, \u2018We are not going to reduce,\u2019 but they are asking for an extended timeline. The minister says \u2018no\u2019, we are doing it within this period of time. And I think this will only be solved in the boardroom. This will only be solved between the two parties,\u201d Mr Quashie stated.<\/p>\n

He drew parallels with the past, recalling how Shoprite\u2019s exit was partly blamed on pressure from government policies that the company felt undermined its operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that exit, that Shoprite did in this country, has affected a lot of people. There were people that were working there \u2013 Ghanaians, of course,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n

Despite the tensions, the High Commissioner expressed optimism that diplomacy would prevail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, of course, South Africa will hit back. There will not be any retaliatory measures in this. I see a solution within the days to come. I see a solution. Like I said, I\u2019m privy to information. The Foreign Affairs Minister has spoken to his counterpart from South Africa. We\u2019ll get a solution,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n

For now, the country stands at a crossroads: a government minister vowing to confront what he sees as corporate exploitation and a diplomat cautioning that the method of confrontation could ripple across boardrooms from Johannesburg to Accra.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"MultiChoice-SamGhana\u2019s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin A. Quashie, has raised concerns that Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George\u2019s approach in the standoff with satellite television giant MultiChoice could unsettle investor confidence at a time when the country is seeking to attract foreign capital.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8021,12,3106,1910,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benjamin-a-quashie","category-business","category-dstv","category-international","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}