Ghana Digitization Program: World Bank Announces Support in Four Thematic Areas

Company News from Monday 1st April 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-04-01

The World Bank is committed to supporting Ghana in four thematic areas, namely capacity building, regulatory framework, digital platforms and infrastructure upgrades within the framework of the World Bank. digital infrastructure Moonshot for Africa.

This promise was made after the Ghanaian Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, sought help from the Bretton Woods Institution for the extension of the e-Transform project and other Ghanaian government programs to reduce the digital divide of the country.

Responding to the minister's request when he paid her a courtesy call on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, World Bank Vice President for Africa Hafez Ghanem said:

"What we are going to do, is help you in four areas: improving infrastructure, the regulatory framework to increase competition and service delivery, capacity building and platforms. the Government of Ghana to carry out its digitization program for all facets of the country.

Vice President Ghanem emphasized that the success of the digitization program would bring unprecedented efficiency to all public and private institutions and contribute to the effective fight against corruption.

"We believe that we can use digital technology to improve governance, reduce corruption, improve transparency, and more. It's really a powerful instrument for improving governance, "he added.

He urged the Minister of Communications to prepare a proposal for submission to the World Bank, saying "we are happy to support you" to the delight of Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful.

Vice President Ghanem also expressed frustration with the high cost of the Internet in low- and middle-income countries, including Ghana, and urged the Minister of Communications to take steps to reduce this cost.

A study published in October 2018 by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) revealed that more than 2.3 billion people live in countries where only 1 GB of mobile data is not affordable.

In her response, Ms. Owusu-Ekuful said that the Government of Ghana has already started processes to lower the cost of the Internet.

She said that there will be an industry forum early next month to force a consensus on the way forward.

Ms. Owusu-Ekuful also said that a high-level commitment to the regulator and operators of the sector had been going on for some time already to promote greater infrastructure sharing and competition, in order to reduce Internet costs.

"This country has a huge appetite for data that we are not able to satisfy. So we see that there is an opportunity, but also a business opportunity for the private sector.

"So we started holding meetings on a number of issues, including: sim recording, registration of equipment identity, among other things, to clean this space and make it more secure and less user-friendly to use. users when formulating criminal activities. We will have an industry forum at the beginning of next month to put all these discussions together and build consensus on the way forward, "she added.