AIRTELTIGO
A Historic Merger Sarpong joined AirtelTigo Ghana at a moment of unprecedented change and opportunity . By bringing together the two discrete brands , the newly-formed AirtelTigo Ghana aimed to “ reduce operational costs , create efficiencies , and drive more innovative behaviour in the market ,” Sarpong explains . “ And so this new company came together with a mandate to integrate , harmonise and transform , in order to be in the best possible position to compete in the future .”
This mandate has formed the foundation of Sarpong ’ s work over the past few years and represents a three-phase transition from the two companies ’ pasts towards a single , unified future . The process , he reflects , wasn ’ t without its hurdles . In addition to navigating regulatory hurdles put in place by a government that “ government didn ' t want to set a bad precedent for the process ” of future mergers , and so set “ very strict guidelines with no room for error ” that “ set us on a very tough regulatory journey ,” the process of integrating the tech stacks , operational architectures and different cultures of two companies that , up until that point , had been rivals , required careful consideration .
“ I came into an environment in which there were two companies , both with overlapping infrastructure , services , technology , and teams - but with two different cultures and ways of doing things . So , the first step was to integrate the two companies and figure out how to get these two different systems to talk to each other ,” he recalls .
Once this integration was completed , the more nuanced task of harmonisation could begin . Sarpong explains that the harmonisation process “ was all about
choosing between the two versions of each service we now had . You ' ve got two billing systems . Which one do you go for ? You have two ERP systems . Which one do you go for ? It ' s a lot of decisions to make to ensure that these two companies can come together as one , and at the end of the day , you can ' t lose sight of cost and operational efficiency .”
Sarpong gets visibly excited about this next bit . “ You ' ve done the integration ; you ' re now talking to each other . You ' ve found the efficiencies where you can , selecting the best offerings from the two entities . And
158 July 2021