Claim: A Facebook user alleged that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the former Vice President of Ghana, is a co-owner or shareholder of Hubtel, he gets a percentage share from payments made to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) through the app.
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s checks at the Office of the Registrar General indicate that Bawumia is neither the owner nor beneficial owner of Hubtel. Hubtel is owned by Alexander Adjei Bram and Ernest Kwesi Apenteng. According to the last ECG Audit report, which is the ECG 2023 financial report, ECG revealed its financial performance and cash flows as of 31 December 2023 under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and in a manner required by the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992). The audit recorded no payments to Dr Bawumia.
Full Text
Weeks before the 2024 elections, there were allegations that the then vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, owned Hubtel, a digital payment platform, and had entered into an unholy business transaction with Ghana’s electricity company to rip the country off.
That allegation found expression in different forms and on different platforms. An account said to be a trusted source of statistics about Africa @StatsAfric alleged that Bawumia was linked to Hubtel.
Others, including an X user, Nana Yaa Prempeh, shared a link of a political activist alleging that Bawumia owned Hubtel and had entered into a contract with ECG as its payment platform. According to the activist, whatever amount is paid to ECG, a percentage goes to Hubtel, Bawumia’s company. He added that anytime Hubtel faced financial challenges, it would massage figures on ECG payments and get more money to the detriment of ECG and the Ghanaian taxpayer.
Nana Yaa Prempeh, in sharing the video, also came with a caption, “Wait ooo so Bawumia owns Hubtel in Ghana, and Hubtel is the one in charge of ECG bills collections?”
A popular NDC sympathiser, Marie Afua Amoakwa Boadu, also waded into the controversy, accusing Bawumia and Hubtel of corruption.
This claim has sparked a huge public uproar, raising questions about the company’s ownership structure and alleged illegal transactions that would rip the country off.
Given the controversy, the allegations have triggered a potential loss of money to the taxpayer, and given the potential abuse of office allegation against the then vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, DUBAWA decided to investigate the claim.
To successfully investigate this claim, DUBAWA had to find out whether
- Bawumia indeed owned Hubtel
- Whether or not ECG contracted Hubtel as its payment platform. And if it was, when was the contract entered into with the ECG?
Verification
To investigate, DUBAWA checked Hubtel’s website to understand the background of the relationship between the two organisations. According to Hubtel, its business relationship with ECG dates back to 2007. The company then operated as SMSGH and deployed ECG’s first APIs to access postpaid bills and send SMS alerts. In 2011, the company also managed the nationwide deployment and rollout of ECG’s first-ever point-of-sale devices to collect payment. These business transactions happened when Dr Bawumia was not vice president.
Having received the first license from the Bank of Ghana to operate as an Enhanced Payment Services Provider, Hubtel approached ECG in May of 2022 with unsolicited proposals to offer its billing and payment technology to solve ECG’s numerous commercial challenges.
By July 2022, the ECG Board of Directors launched an aggressive digital transformation plan, which included a proof-of-concept agreement for Hubtel to implement its proposed solutions at no upfront cost to ECG.
To fulfil the proof-of-concept requirements, Hubtel redesigned, developed, and implemented a complete overhaul of ECG’s commercial systems and payment frameworks and also took over the responsibility for processing and securing payments for bills, electricity meter credits, vendor quota purchases, and non-energy invoices.
Ownership Structure of Hubtel
DUBAWA then proceeded to investigate Hubtel’s ownership structure and issues of alleged conflict of interest with ECG.
The researcher first spoke to Cornelis Rouloph Otoo, the Board Secretary and a member of Hubtel’s legal team. Otoo told DUBAWA that the Vice President has no shares or beneficial ownership in the company.
“I can tell you on authority that in terms of the shareholding of Hubtel Ltd., there are two shareholders: Mr Bram and Mr Apenteng. In terms of ultimate beneficial ownership, there are only two ultimate beneficial owners, the same company shareholders. At no point were shares ever held by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, or anybody outside the original shareholders.”
He further explained that Hubtel’s filings under the Companies Act are clear and transparent, showing no evidence of any ownership by the vice president or any other political figure.
Additionally, Alex Bram, a co-founder and shareholder of Hubtel, took to X to reinforce this position, stating unequivocally that he and Ernest Apenteng remain the only shareholders of Hubtel.
“@StatsGH @_GhChronicles Your misinformation cannot alter the history or ownership of Hubtel. Ernest and I remain the only two shareholders to date. Let’s try to be a little more respectful here.”
NPP’s reaction
The researcher also contacted the New Patriotic Party’s General Secretary, Haruna Mohammed, who dismissed the claim. According to him, Dr Bawumia has no stake in Hubtel.
“We have always maintained the fact that Dr Bawumia has no stakes in Hubtel, and he isn’t a director or shareholder in that company. Bawumia doesn’t need to take ECG money through Hubtel. These rumours aim to discredit him,” he told DUBAWA.
DUBAWA then got information from some of the claimants to substantiate their evidence. When the researcher contacted Marie Afua Amoakwa-Boadu to provide evidence, she refused to comment.
Hubtel’s Ownership Structure
Not convinced by the responses, DUBAWA proceeded to the Registrar General’s Department under a Right to Information Request. Under Ghana’s Companies Act 2019 (Act 992), companies must disclose their registered shareholders and ultimate beneficial owners to the Department. The Act mandates transparency to prevent hidden ownership and ensure accountability.
Official documents obtained from the Office of the Registrar of Companies through the Right to Information (RTI) law disprove Bawumia’s ownership claim.
Findings from Official Documents
The records from the Registrar of Companies reveal the following:
Company Name: Hubtel Ltd
Incorporation Date: 23rd July 2007
Shareholders: The company is owned by two individuals:
Alexander Adjei Bram (50,500 shares)
Ernest Apenteng (49,500 shares)
Beneficial Owners: The same two individuals, Alexander Adjei Bram and Ernest Apenteng, are listed as the beneficial owners of the company.
Directors of the Company:
Alexander Adjei Bram (Director)
Ernest Apenteng (Director)
Hans Daniel Nilsson (Director)
Patience Akyianu (Director)
Cross-checking Independent Sources
We looked at more public statements and exchanges, such as PitchBook, which listed Chanzo Capital, a venture capital firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and an investor at Hubtel. Chanzo Capital is well-known for investing in information technology companies in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and Kenya.
However, one of Hubtel’s lawyers, Cornelis Rouloph Otoo, in an unequivocal response to DUBAWA, stated that Chanzo Capital has not invested in Hubtel.
Also, according to GOV.UK company information Hubtel is a private fund limited partnership.
No public filings, reports, or credible evidence suggest Dr Bawumia’s direct or indirect involvement in Hubtel.
Having established the ownership structure, DUBAWA discovered the business relationship between Hubtel and ECG. DUBAWA’s checks reveal that Hubtel and ECG have a business relationship that started in 2007 on a pilot basis. However, the full contract that requires Hubtel to collect all monies on behalf of ECG was completed in March 2023.
In a press statement, Hubtel said, “Since the full launch of the new commercial systems in March 2023, ECG has seen the biggest jumps in its revenues and customer satisfaction ratings.”
Analysis of Financial Reports
To ascertain whether ECG’s finances improved over time, DUBAWA analysed the company’s financial reports before the company, and Hubtel completed their contract agreement in 2024. The analysis also aims to understand the trend.
ECG’s sales revenue was GHC 5,759.872 million in 2019, GHC 6,482.84 million in 2020 (pg 29), GHC 6,969.40million in 2021 (pg 45), GHC 8,156,998 in 2022 and GHC 14,908,577 in 2023 (pg 31).
In the year that ECG signed a full contract with Hubtel, its revenue jumped by over GHC6m to GHC 14,908,577.
Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama, the former Managing Director of ECG, also explained that Bawumia played no role in the transaction. Bawumia never received money from ECG through Hubtel, which explains the role Hubtel plays in the payment procedure they offer to ECG.
“It’s completely false. False! It’s a blatant lie. It’s a blatant lie.
“So, what they (Hubtel) sought to do for ECG was to provide ECG with a platform where all revenue going to ECG will be seen in real-time. That was the solution they provided. It has nothing to do with the man(Bawumia).”
Some civil Society Organisations have inquisited into the company and demanded an audit of the activities and contract between ECG and Hubtel.
However, Samuel Mahama believes the transaction between ECG and Hubtel has been financially viable.
The claim that Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is a co-owner or shareholder of Hubtel is false. Based on authoritative statements from Hubtel’s legal representative and verified shareholders documents from the Office of the Registrar General, there is no evidence to support the allegation that Bawumia receives money from ECG through Hubtel.
