Clydestone Ghana Plc has filed a writ of summons and statement of claim against MTN Ghana, MTN Group Limited and Mobile Money Fintech Limited, alleging unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

The company announced the court action at the Ghana Stock Exchange, confirming proceedings in the Commercial Division of the High Court of Ghana.

The case relates to work commissioned in 2007 that Clydestone alleges was later used without authorisation or compensation.

Clydestone said the claim involves proprietary intellectual property, confidential commercial information and operational methodology developed during the engagement. The company is seeking declarations, damages and equitable remedies.

In a statement, Clydestone said MTN Ghana engaged it in 2007 to develop a commercial and operational framework for a mobile money business.

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“The work was developed and delivered by the company’s founder and Group CEO, Paul Jacquaye, and included a full mobile money ecosystem covering the commercial model, operational architecture, implementation methodology and business case.”

Clydestone said the work was commissioned on the understanding that a non-disclosure agreement and memorandum of understanding would be signed.

It alleges these agreements were not finalised despite repeated requests.

The company further alleges MTN Ghana later used its proprietary work and methodology without authorisation or compensation, including in MTN Mobile Money Ghana and other markets.

Clydestone said the alleged use has continued since the launch of MTN Mobile Money Ghana in 2009.

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“The wrongful use of that work has been ongoing since 2009. What has changed is the availability of independently verifiable information that documents its scale and commercial significance,” the company said.

It cited the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026 and MTN Ghana’s 2025 annual report as evidence of the platform’s scale.

According to Clydestone, the reports show approximately 19.3 million active users and annual revenue of about GHS 6.0 billion ($516m).

The company said it reviewed its records following these publications and concluded there were sufficient grounds to initiate legal proceedings.

It added that it has received no payment or acknowledgement for the work since December 2007, and that pre-action correspondence in 2026 received no substantive response.

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“The Board of Directors has unanimously authorised the commencement of these proceedings,” the company said.

Jacquaye said: “This case is about accountability for commissioned intellectual property.

“When independent publications in 2025 and 2026 revealed the scale of the mobile money business, we reviewed all documentation relating to the original engagement and concluded these proceedings were necessary.”

MTN Group Limited, named as a defendant, had not commented at the time of publication.

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In a development that underscores the fragile state of Nigeria’s telecommunications grid, an incident of infrastructure vandalism in Delta State has severely disrupted network connectivity, leaving thousands of subscribers stranded.

The breach, where a robber attacked the sites, occurred at an IHS-managed telecom node in the ASB region on July 8, 2026, immediately knocking 33 base stations offline across 2G, 3G, and 4G spectrums.

The situation in the region escalated drastically by morning when a separate fibre-optic cable cut severed primary transmission lines. Because the compromised node serves as a critical fibre convergence point, the secondary fibre cut triggered a cascading failure.

This secondary disruption ballooned the number of dark sites from 33 to 103, temporarily paralysing digital communications, banking, and commerce in the affected communities.

Industry sources reveal that the financial and logistical toll of such incidents is becoming unsustainable for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

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Currently, network providers are utilising 20 per cent more spare parts than initially budgeted for the fiscal year.

This unpredictable depletion of technical reserves has stripped operators of their supply buffers, making inventory management and financial forecasting increasingly difficult for telecom executives.

Consequently, engineering teams have been forced to cannibalise materials originally designated for network expansion and new site rollouts just to perform emergency restorations on the damaged sites.

This diversion of resources significantly delays the rollout of new infrastructure, stifling the nation’s broader broadband penetration targets and stalling anticipated revenue generation for the telecom companies.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently noted an average of 1,744 weekly attacks on telecom infrastructure nationwide, including over 1,100 fibre cuts.

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As operators endure protracted back-and-forth negotiations with insurance firms to cover these sudden hardware losses, stakeholders are intensifying calls for the strict enforcement of the Federal Government’s recent designation of telecom assets as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) to safeguard Quality of Service (QoS).

MTN Nigeria, in partnership with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) through the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria and Deloitte Nigeria, has launched the third edition of the Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge.

The initiative is designed to empower young innovators and entrepreneurs to develop practical solutions to environmental challenges while advancing Nigeria’s green economy.

The programme forms part of MTN’s annual Africa PachiPanda Challenge, which supports climate entrepreneurship and sustainability under the company’s Ambition 2030 strategy.

This year’s edition is themed “Nature Meets Innovation: Unlocking Africa’s Green Economy.”

It invites young innovators, entrepreneurs and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) founders between the ages of 18 and 35 to develop innovative solutions addressing Nigeria’s environmental challenges.

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According to the organisers, entries are expected in four thematic areas: Climate Change, Climate-Smart Cities and Urban Resilience, Community Conservation, and Pollution.

The challenge seeks to encourage young Africans to transform innovative ideas into scalable solutions capable of promoting environmental sustainability and economic development.

Applications are open to individuals and teams of up to three members.

Ten finalists will be selected to participate in a four-day boot camp and pitch event in Lagos, where they will receive mentorship, business development support and training in human-centred design.

The finalists will refine their innovations before presenting them to a panel of industry experts.

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The top three winners will share a ₦10 million prize pool, with the overall winner receiving ₦5 million, the first runner-up ₦3 million, and the second runner-up ₦2 million.

In addition to the cash prizes, winners will gain access to mentorship, industry networks and business support platforms to help scale their innovations.

The Nigerian champions will also represent the country at the Africa PachiPanda Finale, where they will compete with winners from other participating African countries.

Speaking on the initiative, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer at MTN Nigeria, Mr Tobe Okigbo, said environmental sustainability and economic development must progress together.

“As a business deeply connected to the communities we serve, we recognise that environmental responsibility and economic development must go hand in hand.

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“The Nigeria PachiPanda Challenge provides an opportunity for young innovators to develop solutions that address local environmental challenges, strengthen youth entrepreneurship and contribute to long-term sustainability.

“We are excited to see how young people across the country will respond to this year’s theme and demonstrate that eco-innovation can be a powerful force for positive change,” he said.

Director-General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr Joseph Onoja, said empowering young people remained essential to protecting the environment.

“Innovation works best when young people lead it. By backing the PachiPanda Challenge, we are handing the next generation the tools to protect nature and the confidence to act.

“Their ideas today will safeguard our planet for the generations that follow,” he said.

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Also speaking, Chief Innovation Officer at UNDP Nigeria, Dr William Tsuma, said innovation remained central to sustainable development.

“When young innovators co-create solutions to real problems, they drive inclusive growth and push us closer to a sustainable society for all. That is exactly what this challenge unlocks,” he said.

Chief Growth Officer, Deloitte West Africa, Mr Bernard Orji, said the partnership would help participants transform promising ideas into viable and scalable ventures.

“Great ideas need sharpening to succeed. Through our collaboration, we will help these young innovators pressure-test their thinking, build commercial confidence, and turn promising concepts into ventures that can scale and last,” he said.

Applications for the challenge open on July 29 and close on Aug. 28, while the boot camp and final pitch event will hold from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22, 2026.

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The organisers said the initiative aligns with broader efforts to promote youth entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability and innovation-driven economic growth across Nigeria.