Let’s Learn from India’s 40 years e-Governance experience – Kwame Pianim

Mr. Kwame Pianim, Board Chairman of E-tranzact, an e-payment service provider has urged government to learn from India’s 40 years experience in e-governance and e-payment for the benefit of the nation.

A statement signed by Mr. Gideon Adjah, Communication Manager of E-tranzact for Mr. Pianim said, Mr. Pianim was speaking was addressing stakeholders and media personnel at a forum organized by E-transact on theme: “E-Payment as a vehicle for economic growth”.

According to the statement, bringing together the media and stakeholders in the e-payment industry to ensure the media was adequately informed to educate the citizenry on issues bordering on the government’s e-governance agenda.

It said Mr. Pianim noted that the world was intensively driven by technology and Ghana will be pushed to the periphery of the global world if we do not leverage on ICT.

“If the government puts in place infrastructures to encourage the massive use of technology both government and businesses will benefit from the technology boom which has transformed economies in the West and Asia.

“If you are talking about ICT, you need a broadband, a network and you have to have inter-connectivity. So it means that our telephone operators have to become efficient,” he said.

Mr. Pianim expressed his reservations about telecommunication companies being allowed to operate mobile money, adding, “In Ghana because telecommunication companies are allowed to provide mobile money services, they perceive banks and e-payment companies as competitors, hence the need for regulators to make laws that compel telecommunication companies to provide the needed interconnectivity to the parties.”

The statement commended the National Information Technology Agency's efforts in implementing an e-payment system, which would allow payment to be made easily on-line for all government e-services, including passport applications, drivers’ license renewal, AMA delivering on-line marriage license and renewal of business registration certificates.

It said Mr. George Baba Femi, Chief Operations Officer of E-tranzact, outlined the economic importance of building a cashless society.

Mr. Femi implored the media to be actively involved in ensuring that the citizenry were confident with the use of various on-line payment systems, since it was safe, convenient and saved the country a lot of foreign exchange.