A four-man delegation from Liberia was in the country to study Ghana’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) to help develop and implement policies and programmes to address their challenges.
Led by the Minister for Post and Telecommunication, Dr Fredrick Norkeh and his two deputies, Mr. Zotawon D Titus and Mr. Fong Dolomengi, in charge of Telecommunications and Postal Operations respectively, paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Communication, Dr. Omane Boamah at his office after touring some agencies and institutions under the Ministry.
The visit is a follow-up to the impressive performance of the country’s ICT industry observed during Liberia’s participation last year in two ministerial ICT conferences hosted by Ghana.
The two conferences were the Regional Development Forum 2013 (RDF-13) and the Regional Preparatory Meeting (RPM) for the world Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC). The RDF considered key trends in the development of Telecommunications and ICT in the region.
It also offered an opportunity for interactive exchange of opinions and discussions from all stakeholders to improve the telecommunication/ICT sector in all African countries.
The visit is a manifestation of confidence Liberia has in Ghana to assist them advance the course of social development.
The minister reiterated the enormous records Ghana has chalked in its ICT development after the tour. According to him, the government’s commitment to improve ICT usage in all parts of the country is laudable.
The experiences and challenges Ghana has gone through so far, he stressed, will be valuable in the design and implementation of the policies.
He was full of admiration for the government of Ghana in initiating bold policies to develop ICT infrastructure to achieve universal access.
The community information centre project, he noted, is an innovative way of deploying information and knowledge to the door step of the people to make life better.
The team visited the Northern Region to see the 780 fibre optic cable lying along the eastern corridor to connect over 200 communities and towns. They also commended the regional minister, Mr. Bede Zedeng for his support.
He appealed to Dr. Omane and his team to offer them the necessary support to succeed in the effort to be part of the information world.
Dr Omane thanked the team for choosing Ghana as their destination for advise and guidance on ICT, and promised his full support to ensure the industry has the necessary legislative framework and policies to safeguard public interest.
Notable among policies to drive the industry is the commitment to adopt best practices in the industry to derive value for money and ensure enhanced quality of service for the good people of Liberia.
Dr. Omane averred that there is the need for conscious effort to be part of the information world to build knowledge for economic development and growth.
He challenged the Liberia Government to lead the deployment of the necessary infrastructure and use it as a leverage to make ICT accessible and affordable to the people and also attract investors because Ghana is benefitting through these policies.
He informed his counterpart of the implementation of e-government project in the area of health, education and judiciary at the presidency to enhance government business and reduce time.
Such national programme, he said, can only be achieved with robust ICT backbone to improve living conditions.
He noted that cyber crimes, though sophisticated in nature can be contained with the appropriate regulatory and legal framework and called for a collective regional approach to tackle it.
Ghana currently has over 12.3 terabit of submarine cables, optic fibre cable and other platforms to provide services to areas not attractive to the private operators.
The digital migration programme is on course to meet the deadline to offer opportunities to industry players with excess spectrum.
He advised Dr. Fredrick Norkeh to challenge ICT professionals to think outside the box and develop solution based ICT applications that are local grown but with a global focus to be competitive.
The future, he indicated, is likely to witness an increase in data revenue and a possible decline in voice.
Ghana’s ICT history, according to the director in charge of policy planning, monitoring and evaluation, Mr. Issah has not been smooth but through consultation and implementation of best practices is able to shape the industry from the days of only Ghana Telecom to the current six mobile operators and mobile subscription of over 26 million.
