Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has emphasized Ghana’s commitment to leveraging digital tools for expediting the integration of the continent through trade.
She highlighted the establishment of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Ghana as a crucial step in positioning the country as the digital gateway in Africa.
Addressing the first global conference on cyber capacity building in Accra on November 29, 2023, Owusu-Ekuful outlined the government’s objectives, including bridging the digital divide, promoting digital transformation, and stimulating economic growth in Ghana.
The AfCFTA, a key initiative of Agenda 2063, is an ambitious trade agreement encompassing critical aspects of Africa’s economy, such as digital trade and investment protection. By removing trade barriers within Africa, AfCFTA aims to significantly enhance intra-Africa trade, fostering value-added production and trade across various sectors.
Implemented in January 2021, AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area, encompassing 55 African countries with a combined population of 1.3 billion and a GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion. The agreement is designed to strengthen African economies, making them more resilient to internal and external shocks.
Owusu-Ekuful also encouraged Ghanaians to embrace Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as part of the broader digitalization efforts.
“Our major goal is to bridge the digital divide, facilitate our digital transformation, to energize Ghana’s economic growth. This is designed to establish Ghana as the continent’s digital gateway and it is no accident that we host Africa Continental Free Trade Area and are poised to use digital tools to accelerate the integration of the continent through trade,” the Communications and Digitalization Minister said.
She added that, “We have launched interventions to bridge the digital divide and encourage citizens to adopt ICT. We are implementing a rural telephony that will connect over 4 million unserved and underserved citizens to voice and data services on a shared national platform and network.”
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful emphasized the government’s intentional efforts to formalize the economy by implementing various digital initiatives. These initiatives include mobile money interoperability, the national ID card project, rural telephony, and several others.
Owusu-Ekuful highlighted the significance of the national ID card, functioning as a unified Electronic ID (EID) for all digital transactions. She pointed out that this initiative plays a crucial role in combating identity theft, as well as addressing issues related to crime, fraud, and corruption.