'Digitalisation is reducing unemployment in Ghana' – Boako tells NDC

Dr. Gideon Boako, the spokesperson of Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has said that digitalization is playing a critical role in the government’s quest to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country, despite a contrary claim by the opposition.

The Communications Director of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has said that Ghana’s challenges do not lie in digitization.

“Of what use is ‘E-this and E-that’ to the ordinary Ghanaian who is jobless and cannot even afford to buy mobile data to access these digital platforms?” he asked.

“Digitalisation is good. It helps people to do things effectively with ease. The NDC/Mahama administration has a superior record in that regard. But digitalization is useless unless it is linked to the economic empowerment of the people,” Gyamfi added.

Reacting to the comments at a news conference on Friday (5 November), Dr. Boako said digitalization is rather making life easy for Ghanaians by creating more jobs.

“There is also the contention on how digitalization can help create jobs or reduce the rate of unemployment. Someone even said ‘y33p3 adwuma a wose digitization’ to wit, ‘we need jobs and you are talking about digitization’. But I dare say that digitalization is making it possible for many jobs to be created in both the private and public sectors,” Dr. Boako said.

“Think of that young university student or graduate who does not have the required start-up capital to rent physical space or shop to ply her trade. She is able to skip this hurdle and trade using the social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and so on. Her shop is her dormitory or hostel, car booth, or bedroom. She is able to advertise her products, get orders and receive payments through the mobile money interoperability with no hustle.

“She has a job now and hires a delivery man to deliver the goods to the buyer, thereby creating a job for the delivery man also. The volumes of trade taking place via this technologically driven medium and the number of people employed in this space could be mind-blowing. There are many people today, who have turned their home kitchens into restaurants, yet no one visits them physically to eat. They advertise using digital technology, receive orders using digital technology, receive payments using digital technology, and move their incomes to bank accounts using digital technology. This is how digitization is creating jobs,” Dr. Boako stated.