'Ideas create jobs, mobile money interoperability alone has created over 900,000 momo agents' - Dr. Bawumia
Former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has stated that great nations are built on visionary ideas rather than the wealth of individuals, arguing that innovation and sound policy formulation are the real drivers of job creation and national development.
Speaking in Dormaa as part of his nationwide campaign tour ahead of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries, Dr Bawumia said unemployment remained one of the major challenges confronting Ghana’s youth. He emphasised that only leaders with transformative ideas could create sustainable employment opportunities.
“Ideas build nations and ideas create jobs,” Dr Bawumia declared, dismissing claims by some of his fellow aspirants that their personal wealth makes them more capable of creating jobs.
The former Vice President cited several policy interventions he introduced during his tenure, including the Mobile Money Interoperability System, which, he said, has generated hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country.
“Ghana is the fastest-growing mobile money market in Africa. Before mobile money interoperability, there were only eight million mobile money subscribers in Ghana, but now it is about 24 million, which has significantly boosted the mobile money industry and created a lot of jobs,” he said.
Dr Bawumia noted that the mobile money interoperability initiative alone had directly led to the registration of over 900,000 mobile money vendors, offering sustainable employment to many young Ghanaians. “Through just one of my ideas, mobile money interoperability alone has registered over 900,000 mobile money vendors, thus creating tens of thousands of sustainable jobs for the youth of our country,” he added.
The July 2025 Summary of Economic and Financial Data from the Bank of Ghana reveals that the number of registered mobile money agents increased to 923,000 as of June 2025, with approximately 423,000 classified as active agents.
Before the introduction of the interoperability system, mobile money transactions were restricted within individual networks, and transfers between banks and mobile money platforms were not possible. At that time, the total number of registered mobile money agents stood at just over 107,000.
However, since the policy’s implementation, the sector has expanded dramatically, enabling seamless transactions across all mobile networks and banks, and spurring the establishment of thousands of new agent businesses nationwide.
Using this data to underline his message, Dr Bawumia urged NPP delegates to assess leadership based on ideas and competence rather than wealth.
“Just one idea I proposed has created tens of thousands of jobs. So this tells you that being a great leader and building a country and creating jobs is not about how much money you have in your pocket. It is about your ideas, and I have shown through my service as Vice President that I have great ideas to transform the country if given the chance as President,” he said.
