Clydestone Ghana Plc has filed a lawsuit against MTN Ghana, MTN Group Limited and Mobile Money Fintech Limited, alleging the unauthorised use of its intellectual property in the development of MTN’s mobile money business.
The company disclosed this in a notice filed with the Ghana Stock Exchange, confirming that it had commenced legal proceedings at the Commercial Division of the High Court of Ghana.
According to Clydestone, the suit relates to work it was commissioned to undertake in 2007, which it alleges was subsequently used without its authorisation or compensation.
The company said the claim covers proprietary intellectual property, confidential commercial information and operational methodology developed during the engagement.
It added that it was seeking declarations, damages and other equitable remedies from the court.
In a statement, Clydestone said MTN Ghana engaged the company in 2007 to develop a commercial and operational framework for a mobile money business.
It said the work was undertaken by its Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Paul Jacquaye, and included a comprehensive mobile money ecosystem comprising the commercial model, operational architecture, implementation methodology and business case.
According to the company, the engagement was based on the understanding that both parties would execute a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
It, however, alleged that the agreements were never finalised despite repeated requests.
Clydestone further claimed that MTN Ghana later adopted and deployed its proprietary work and methodology in MTN Mobile Money Ghana and other markets without authorisation or payment.
The company alleged that the unauthorised use had continued since the launch of MTN Mobile Money Ghana in 2009.
“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,” it said.
Clydestone cited the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2026 and MTN Ghana’s 2025 Annual Report, which it said showed approximately 19.3 million active users and annual revenue of about GHS 6 billion (516 million U.S. dollars).
The company said it reviewed its records after the publication of the reports and concluded that there were sufficient grounds to institute legal proceedings.
It added that it had received neither payment nor formal acknowledgement for the work since December 2007, noting that pre-action correspondence sent in 2026 did not receive any substantive response.
According to the company, its Board of Directors unanimously approved the decision to commence legal action.
Commenting on the development, Jacquaye said the case centred on accountability for commissioned intellectual property.
“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,” he said.
MTN Group Limited, which is named as one of the defendants in the suit, had not issued any public response to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.
