Vice President Bawumia woos Silicon Valley Investors

The Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo is reviewing a number of regulations governing the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in order to free up the innovative talent and capabilities of already existing and start-up companies.

The review would, among other objectives, also aim to make it easier to enter and invest in the sector in order to support the government’s desire to increase the use of ICT to solve peculiar Ghanaian challenges, while ensuring the appropriate security assurances for users and investors.

“We are trying to build a new, efficient Ghana. The world is continually evolving, and this evolution is led by cutting-edge technology. We know there are many talented young men and women in the ICT space, and government is looking at ways to make innovating and actualising promising ideas easier,” the Vice President of the Republic, H.E. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, declared at separate meetings with leading lights in Silicon Valley when he paid a five day working visit to the Valley from April 10, 2018.

The Vice President, together with some government officials and the leadership of 15 leading local ICT firms, is on a visit to the technology hub of Silicon Valley, California, USA during which he will hold discussions with the Valley’s thought and technology leaders to explore the possibilities of developing strategic insight, decisions and partnerships with the view of helping to enhance the digitisation of the Ghanaian economy to move Ghana Beyond Aid.

Some of the companies visited include General Electric, IBM, GreyLock Partners, AirBnB, SalesForce, Stanford SEED, and Linked IN.

Touting the Akufo-Addo Government’s determination to make Ghana the most business-friendly country in Africa, Vice President Bawumia urged tech investors and innovators to take advantage of the many competitive advantages Ghana has including location, a stable macro-economic environment and a large pool of talent to set up shop.

“We as a government want to set the framework, the environment, then move out of the way so that you guys can do what you do best. Whether it is in health, education, agriculture, utility service provision or wherever, you can come in and invest and help us with the sort of innovations that you can come up with.”

The Vice President also called for partnerships between Ghanaian ICT firms and their Silicon valley compatriots, insisting that Ghanaian talent was as good as any found anywhere in the world, if not better.

“The indigenous ICT firms are as good as any you can find anywhere in the world. Government is convinced about that and we want to encourage our local ICT firms as much as possible to be very competitive,” he stated, adding “a collaboration between you is likely to be of mutual benefit to all parties.”

The ICT leads accompanying the Vice President include representatives from GHIPSS, Hubtel, BlueSpace Africa, DreamOval, Rancard, Nsano, ExpressPay, IBM, and Bsystems.

The rest are from IT Consortium, Trotro Tractor, General Electric, Callens Solution, Edel Technology Consult and the SoftTribe.

Also on the team was Deputy Minister of Communications and MP for Awutu Senya East, Hon George Nenyi Andah; Hon Mohammad Tijanni Habibu, Deputy Foreign Minister; Hon. Alex Tetteh Djornobuah, MP for Sefwi Akontonbra and member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education; and Hon Halidu Ali Maiga, Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs.

The Vice President returned to Accra on Saturday April 14, 2018.