The Ghanaian government has made digital technology a cornerstone of its socioeconomic development strategy. The administration plans to launch a $5 million fund to support technological innovation across the country.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (photo, center), Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, officially unveiled the country’s new Digital Economy Policy and Strategy last week. This roadmap aims to harness digital technologies to spur economic growth, improve public services, and ensure equitable access to digital resources.
The strategy focuses on five key pillars: entrepreneurship, digital skills, digital government, universal access, and emerging technologies.
According to the minister, the policy is designed to enhance and accelerate Ghana’s ongoing digital transformation efforts. Ghana currently ranks 108th globally on the 2024 E-Government Development Index (EGDI) by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), with a score of 0.6316 out of 1. While this places the country above the averages for West Africa (0.3957) and the African continent (0.4247), it remains slightly below the global average of 0.6382.
In the ICT Development Index, Ghana scores 66.2 out of 100, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which also recognizes Ghana as a global leader in cybersecurity practices.
“By aligning digital efforts with job creation and GDP growth, the policy aims to ensure that technology becomes a powerful engine for inclusive development, reducing poverty and enhancing prosperity for all Ghanaians,” the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation stated in a news release.
A joint study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Google forecasts that Africa’s digital economy will be worth at least $712 billion by 2050, representing approximately 8.5% of the continent’s GDP. In Ghana, data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) reveals that the ICT sector contributed GHS 21 billion ($1.36 billion) to GDP in 2022, accounting for about 4% of the economy. This marks a significant increase compared to its contribution of GHS 4.4 billion in 2016.
By Isaac K. Kassouwi,
Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji
