Clydestone Ghana Plc has filed a lawsuit against MTN Ghana, MTN Group Limited and Mobile Money Fintech Limited, alleging that the companies used its intellectual property in the development of their mobile money business without permission or compensation.
The case was filed at the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra on July 27, 2026, according to a disclosure submitted by Clydestone to the Ghana Stock Exchange.
The technology company claims the dispute stems from a 2007 engagement in which MTN requested it to design a commercial and operational framework for the launch of a mobile money service in Ghana.
According to Clydestone, the work was prepared by its founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Paul Jacquaye, and included the business model, operational framework, implementation strategy and financial case for the proposed service.
The company said it expected the engagement to be formalised through a non-disclosure agreement and a memorandum of understanding but alleged that neither document was signed despite several follow-up requests.
Clydestone further claims that aspects of the framework it developed were later incorporated into MTN’s Mobile Money platform in Ghana and subsequently deployed in other African markets without its consent.
The company stated that although MTN Mobile Money was launched in 2009, it only obtained what it considers independent evidence supporting its claims after reviewing industry reports published in 2026, including the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money and MTN Ghana’s 2025 annual report.
It said those publications highlighted the commercial scale of the platform, reporting about 19.3 million active Mobile Money users and annual revenue of approximately GH¢6 billion.
Clydestone also alleged that it has received neither payment nor formal recognition for the work carried out under the 2007 engagement. It added that pre-action correspondence sent through its lawyers this year did not receive a substantive response from the defendants.
The company is asking the court to grant declarations, award damages and issue any additional relief it considers appropriate.
Clydestone’s Board of Directors has approved the legal action and said the case will not affect the company’s operations or services.
MTN Group Limited had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time the regulatory filing was made.
