Veep touts progress of digitization agenda

The Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has reiterated the resolve of the Nana Akufo-Addo government to transform Ghana within the shortest possible time through the implementation of policies and programmes designed to make Ghana a modern economy.

According to Vice-President Bawumia, after just 20 months in office, the Akufo-Addo presidency has done more to digitize and formalize the Ghanaian economy and society than what has pertained in Ghana for several years.

“The Akufo-Addo Government is doing things, life-transforming activities and reforms, what we haven’t done as a nation over the past 61 years, in just in 20 months. We are implementing reforms that will provide the critical, soft infrastructure that will ensure that Ghana becomes a modern economy."

“In just 20 months, we have implemented policies and programmes designed to formalize the economy and make life easier for both the ordinary Ghanaian and businesses. For instance, today, through the use of technology, getting a drivers’ licence has been made easier and cut out the need to pay a middleman before accessing an essential service. This is certainly good for the ordinary Ghanaian and business."

“This government is building a new, confident, modern Ghana through the use of technology and the implementation of critical reforms. We have delivered in this short period, and will continue to deliver in the coming days, months and years,” the Vice President maintained.

The Vice-President made these remarks when he addressed participants at the UK-Ghana Investment Summit in Accra yesterday.

Outlining a number of critical building blocks for formalization such as ensuring unique identification (Ghana Card, to be rolled out nationwide soon), location (National Digital Property Addressing System-GhanaPostGPS), seamless payment system (Mobile Payments Interoperability), justice delivery (E-case tracking, ongoing), improved access to education (Free SHS, E-education, ongoing), and facilitating business operations (paperless port, E-registration of companies, etc), Vice-President Bawumia maintained that the government was committed to moving Ghana beyond aid while creating the environment for the growth of the private sector.

Other reforms, such as a streamlined, online process for passport acquisition, digitization of all land records, injecting transparency into the procurement processes by making all processes easily trackable online, and the ongoing development of a national Emergency Number linked with the emergency services, fire and police services, and designed to give a caller’s location for faster response times were all part of the jigsaw, Vice-President Bawumia stated.

“In the area of health, processes are underway to ensure the speedy supply of urgently required blood and medication to isolated, hard-to-access communities through the use of drones. The processes should be completed soon, and I’m happy to say that government is not paying a pesewa for this. It is being funded by the private sector,” the Vice-President disclosed.

He urged the investor-community to take advantage of Ghana’s business-friendly environment to engage their Ghanaian counterparts to set up businesses while pledging government’s commitment to staying the course of formalization.

“While we strive to make further efforts to make Ghana a leading business destination through the formalization agenda, I will urge you to talk to your Ghanaian counterparts and explore ways we can work together to make Ghana better. Given what we have been able to do within this short period, you can be rest assured that we are poised to achieve even more.”