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The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has taken stock of some digital innovations embarked on by the government since 2017.
Addressing a gathering of students and the diplomatic community on the impact of the digitalization innovations on the economy on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, Bawumia also highlighted some challenges inherited by the government
Dubbed ‘Bawumia Speaks’, the event held on the campus of the Ashesi University was themed ‘Transforming An Economy Through Digitalisation: The Ghana Story.’
Below are five of the digital projects implemented by the government
Ghana Card
The Ghana Card process according to the Vice President commenced under the Kufuor administration but was abandoned in the eight years that followed.
He says however that the biometric cards serve multiple purposes and have become an integral part of the government’s revenue generation plans.
“So far, 15.5 million people have been enrolled on the Ghanacard by the NIA and most of the population will be enrolled by 2022. NIA will open an additional 291 offices tomorrow across all districts and regions to complete the exercise. The issuance of the Ghanacard has provided Ghana with a database that will be the anchor for all transactions in the future, providing unique identity to all individuals”.
“Digital inclusion provides access to government services. Institutions like DVLA, Police, Banks, NHIA, Passport office, GRA, SSNIT, Telecom companies, will be able to verify the identity of anyone they are doing business with. It will make the targeting of government programs to the vulnerable and disadvantaged more effective.”
Digital Address System The digital address system, according to Bawumia has helped the government in various ways. He said the system enabled the government to identify over 7.5million properties in the country.
He also revealed plans to make the system more useful to Ghanaians. “With the digital property address system: Every Ghanaian has a digital address. Can provide such an address for job applications, visa applications, application for passports, etc. The Ghana Post GPS application comes with directions to every location.
“Currently Ghana Post is achieving 98% delivery rates as they can identify every location using the digital address navigation system. Now Ghana Post delivers for several e-commerce companies like Jumia and majority of shipments sent to Ghana via Alibaba and Amazon are delivered through Ghana Post. Ghana Post provides banks with data such as customers’ GPS address.
Mobile money interoperability
The mobile money interoperability initiative, according to the Vice President should be credited with the growth of mobile money business in the country.
He stated that Ghana currently has the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa because it solves a lot of issues and makes it more convenient. Bawumia also said that mobile money interoperability has created an environment for revenue generation for the telcos and government.
“Thanks to the Bank of Ghana and Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement System (GhIPSS) the mobile money payments interoperability has made it possible to transfer money seamlessly across different mobile money providers and between bank accounts and mobile wallets.
“It has also solved the major problem of the over 70% of people not having bank accounts. Today, because of mobile money interoperability (MMI), you can transfer money from a customer of one telco to a customer of a different telco and also make payments from your mobile money account into any bank account and you can receive payments from any bank account into your mobile money account.
“You can receive interest on savings, acquisition of loan (e.g. qwick loan) on your mobile wallets. As a result of MMI over 90% of the adult population now have access to a “bank account.”
“Ghana is the the first country in Africa and one of the few in the world to achieve this type of interoperability between bank accounts and mobile wallets. I would like to note that even in the USA the Federal Reserve Bank does not have interoperability in its Real Time Payments Network. The American Bankers Association in a letter to the Fed in September 2021, called on the Fed to strive towards interoperability with the Real Time Payment Network.”
Digitization of the passport office
Bawumia stated that the digitization of the passport office has created room for quick, efficient and hassle-free service delivery.
He revealed that people can now apply and obtain passports from the comfort of their homes. “Before 2017, applications for passports required the applicant to complete a paper form in pen and submit it to the passport office either personally or upload it online in PDF format to begin the process.
“It was therefore still a manual process. Following digitization, passport applications are now online and there is no need for middlemen or for the payment of bribes to obtain a passport. The average turnaround time for the acquisition of passports has been significantly reduced.”
Introduction of Ghana.gov platform
The platform according to Dr Bawumia is supposed to serve as a hub for accessing government services.
From passports to birth and death certificates, Bawumia says the platform should be the go-to place for Ghanaians.
“Ghana.Gov Platform is To make it easy to access government services, Government has launched the Ghana.gov portal, a one-stop shop for accessing government services. All government institutions are expected to be on the Ghana.Gov platform by the end of the year. The mobile Ghana.Gov App is now available on Google Playstore and on Apple App Store”
