Graphic pledges to support Vokacom Limited

The Graphic Communications Group Limited has pledged to support Vokacom Limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian Information Technology (IT) company in its quest to help accelerate national development.

The Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kobby Asmah made the pledge on behalf of the GCGL when officials of Vokakom led by the Acting CEO, Miss Abena Darkoa Antwi-Darkwa and the Managing Director of Asaase GPS Limited, Mr Richmond Frimpong, paid a courtesy call on the Graphic Communications Group Limited on Thursday.

The Vokacom team used the visit to inform the GCGL about an international award and recognition accorded the company at the 2019 edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom Awards last week in Hungary.

"It is really good to know that you have won such a global award for not only your company but the country at large. I consider this an honour for the nation and therefore all Ghanaians must share in this glory," Mr Asmah said during a meeting with the Vokacom officials.

"That it is a wholly-owned Ghanaian company, having gone through such a global competition to emerge as overrall winner means a lot. "It means that Ghana has the potential to rub shoulders with the best out there and your award has demonstrated that.

"I want to laud this great effort and say that for us at Graphic we are very proud of this. We want to pledge our support to Vokacom, we will walk side-by-side with you to make sure that we partner with you and accelerate national development efforts".

He also charged the Vokacom officials not to rest on their oars after winning the award.

Awards

The awards were organised by the ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Vokacom won the World Global SME Award for Best Business Model and a special recognition for Excellence in Innovation and Social Impact.

Commenting on the awards won in Hungary, Mr Frimpong said some 175 global SME technology companies from over 35 countries competed at the ITU Telecom Awards.

"We participated in the United Nations (UN) ICT agency event through the effort of the government of Ghana. After competing with over 170 companies coming from more than 35 countries, Vokacom and Asaase GPS solution was awarded the Best SME Business Model Globally."

"For us together with our group Chief Executive, we have a mandate to show business from Ghana and it's ability to transcend Africa in our business model".

"So, basically we thought that this was a great award by the UN agency, so we decided to come and introduce this great honour to also the best print media and now online communications agency like the Graphic and to meet the Editor, so that we can present this to the media through this window".

GhanaPostGPS

Commenting on the the rollout of the GhanaPostGPS - Ghana's official digital property addressing system by Asaase GPS Limited, a company within the Vokacom Group, Mr Asmah commended the company for fixing the teething challenges that faced the system in its early days.

Miss Antwi-Darkwa said the award was validation that Vokacom was headed in the right direction, adding that Vokacom was committed to providing more innovations that will improve Ghana.

The Vokacom delegation, which also included Mr Bernard Osei-Akoto, Managing Director, Tekhype Limited; Miss Mawuena Darkey, Personal Assistant to the Group Chief Executive Officer; Mr George Idan, Project and Research Analyst; and Mr Michael Anderson, International Sales Manager, were later taken on a tour of the Daily Graphic newsroom by Mr Asmah.

About Vokacom

Vokacom was established in 2004 and has nine subsidiary companies in Ghana and other African countries. It designed the Asaase GPS as the world's first official digital addressing system for countries and collaborated with the Ghana Post Company in its rollout of the GhanaPostGPS.

Asaase GPS generates unique codes for every property or location in the country. It has a national address registry embedded in the system that enables Individuals to validate their home and business addresses for easy direction and identification.

The model has been described as revolutionary and is deployable countrywide to meet individual corporate, municipal and national addressing needs

At the 2019 edition of the Ghana Information, Technology and Telecom Awards (GITTA) held in Accra, Vokacom was adjudged the Software Company of the Year. Its founder and Chief Executive, Nana Osel Afrifa, was also adjudged the ICT Entrepreneur of the Year in recognition of his cutting edge technology in the IT space.