‘Explore alternative means of generating funds’
A Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr Ato Sarpong, has urged the management of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) to explore alternative means of generating funds for its projects.
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“My point is that GIFEC cannot continue to rely on the one per cent revenue they get from mobile operators as their sole source of funds because as we move into the future, revenue will be tighter due to competition. We expect to see revenue stagnation at a point in time and this will affect GIFEC,” he intimated.
The minister said it was important for GIFEC to be able to generate 30 per cent of its funds outside the traditional source within the next five years.
Mr Sarpong was speaking at an event to mark the 10th anniversary of GIFEC in Accra. The week-long programme of activities is on the theme: “10 years of bridging the digital divide in Ghana: the GIFEC experience”.
ICT
Mr Sarpong said the best way for African economies to catch up with those of the Western world was to have a robust ICT regime.
He said the massive improvement in mobile phone subscription and Internet penetration, spurred on by the rural telephony project by GIFEC, was an opportunity to grow local economies.
VSAT hub
The Administrator of the GIFEC, Mr Kwabena Owusu Acheampong, said his outfit had advanced moves to roll out a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) hub, a satellite technology that enables real-time broadband communication in areas where traditional terrestrial infrastructure is either unavailable or unreliable.
He said the VSAT hub would be one of the avenues through which GIFEC would generate some revenue and expand ICT access to all parts of the country.
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“It is our aim to connect all government agencies to the VSAT hub. Once that happens, we can possibly tax them to get some revenue for the maintenance of the facility,” he stated.
Background
GIFEC was established in 2006 as the implementation agency of the Ministry of Communications to roll out Ghana’s ICT policy.
The promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act 775 in 2008 strengthened the agency. Funding for GIFEC is primarily from telecommunication service providers that are required by law to pay one per cent of their annual revenue towards the operation of the fund.
Other lawful sources of income for GIFEC include money provided by Parliament, profit from investments by trustees of the fund, donations, grants and gifts.
The core mandate of GIFEC, as contained in the Communications Act 775, is to provide universal access to electronic communication for under-served communities across the country.