(Bloomberg) -- Ghana has given Telecel Group, headed by French tycoon Hugues Mulliez, approval to buy Vodafone Group Plc’s operations in the West African country. 

The National Communications Authority granted approval to transfer Vodafone’s 70% stake in Ghana Telecommunications Co., the agency said in a statement on Monday, about six months after Bloomberg first reported on the talks. 

Telecel is using the stake as part of an expansion drive into this part of Africa, and could potentially provide much-needed investment in the country. Ghana, which lost access to the international capital markets due to its ballooning debt and loan-service costs, suspended interest payments on its external debt last month. The nation is trying to restructure its obligations to finalize a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

Read More: Vodafone Agrees to Sell Stake in Ghana Operations to Telecel

Vodafone didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment and Telecel declined to comment. 

Vodafone entered Ghana in 2008, paying the government $900 million for the 70% stake in the business. The state held a third of the business. 

Last week, the Ghanaian government issued a $773 million back-tax bill to the country’s largest telecommunications operator, MTN Ghana, which the operator “strongly disputes.” 

Read More: MTN Gets $773 Million Ghana Tax Bill It ‘Strongly Disputes’

Mulliez is a shareholder in the Association Familiale Mulliez — owner of French retailers including Decathlon and Leroy Merlin — and has been chairman of Telecel Group since 2018. 

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