Ghana’s future will be anchored on ICT — Veep

The government will continue to tap local information communication talents to create solutions that meet the country’s needs, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has said. 

“We are very happy that there is so much talent in Ghana. The indigenous ICT firms are as good as any you can find anywhere in the world. The government is convinced about that and we want to encourage our local ICT firms as much as possible to be very competitive,” he added.

Tour

Dr Bawumia, who was on a tour of some ICT firms in Accra on Tuesday, said the government wanted to set the framework and the environment and then move out of the way, so that the ICT firms could work to their optimum.

“Whether it is in health, education, the police or military, agriculture, revenue collection or wherever, you can help us with the sort of innovations that you can come up with,” he outlined.

The Vice-President’s tour was to enable him to familiarise himself with the operations of the ICT firms and know at first-hand their challenges for government’s attention.

Dr Bawumia pointed out that a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the ICT sector, especially in the ever-evolving global world, would better inform policy formulation designed to achieve President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid and provide tailored solutions for industry, especially for start-ups.

Facilities visited

The Vice-President’s tour took him to DreamOval, a software development house; Hubtel Ltd, a messaging solutions business; the SOFTtribe Limited, a software developer with vast experience in the design and implementation of computerised business application systems, and Farmerline Ghana Limited, an IT firm focused on agri-business.

At all the places visited, he interacted with the staff and management of the companies on their various ongoing projects.

Showcasing the various solutions they had provided to both governments and the private sector, such as banks, the security agencies, the utility service providers and farmers across Africa, the companies took turns to proffer solutions to the challenges facing society and urged the government to create the enabling environment to enable them to thrive.

Dr Bawumia commended the ICT companies for providing employment for the many ICT graduates in the country and pledged the government’s commitment to ensure the establishment and growth of more start-ups.

“We believe that the future of Ghana is a future that has to be anchored by ICT. We believe that if we are going to make progress and go beyond aid, we have to be very efficient in what we do. And to be very efficient, you have to anchor it on ICT,” he said.

Encouragement 

He encouraged the ICT firms to engage the government for a discussion of their challenges, adding: “We are going to be very supportive. We want to encourage you and let you know that we are here to support you; we believe you are as good as anyone anywhere else in the world.”

“We want you to let us know how we can best help indigenous ICT firms. You've got to let us know how to create the space for you then we will move to do exactly that, so that we can move this economy to where the President wants us to move it,” he said.