Systems and data drive development of modern economies - Veep

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has underscored the indispensable role of building strong micro-foundations, underpinned by systems and data in the quest to develop modern economies.

In a tweet on his official handle, Dr Bawumia said most African countries were trying to develop without micro-foundations and systems to drive it, and such paths would lead to failure.

"Most African countries have tried to develop without the micro-foundations and systems to drive it. That has not worked," Dr Bawumia tweeted.

"It is like trying to get to Mars on a bicycle. We have to build systems and data-driven economies. Digitisation is the key. Ghana is on course."

Vice President Bawumia is known for his passion for digitisation and is credited with spearheading the government’s digitisation drive, which has earned Ghana international commendation.

The process to digitise the Ghanaian economy has, so far, seen the introduction of a biometric national ID card, digital addresses for houses and streets, universal QR code, mobile money interoperability, which allowed for payment to be made across mobile networks and banks, financial inclusion, the paperless system at the ports, online service for business registration, driver’s licence, passports, and NHIS renewal, among others.

As a result the number of people with Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) has increased from 750,000 in 2016 to 15.5 million currently.

The Ghana Revenue Authority has also recently announced that from July all taxes and customs duty would only be received electronically, direct to the GRA's bank accounts.