A New Way to Power Finance in Ghana Imagine being able to use a single mobile app to see your bank accounts, mobile money wallets, savings, insurance, and even your loan eligibility—all in one place, in real-time. Now imagine that app recommending the best savings plan or offering a better loan deal from a different bank with just a few clicks. That is the power of Open Banking.
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This signals a strong recognition that digital skills are essential for Ghana’s future. But to maximize impact, we must ask:
Key Questions:
1️⃣ Is a mass coders initiative still relevant in the age of AI? With automation taking over, do we need 1 million programmers?
2️⃣ How do we ensure job creation, not just training? Without a structured framework, Ghana risks oversaturating the market with unemployed coders.
This article explores the good, the bad, and the ugly—and presents a clear execution framework, with remote work and BPO as the key solutions to ensuring success.
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Ghana is on the brink of a potentially transformative moment for its entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Ghana Innovation and Startup Bill, spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovation, aims to provide a structured legal framework to formalize support for startups, attract investment, and stimulate innovation. If passed, this bill could significantly improve access to funding, regulatory clarity, tax incentives, and ecosystem collaboration. However, given the experiences of other African nations that have implemented Startup Acts, Ghana must approach this bill with both optimism and caution.
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Taxing Big Tech in Africa: A Necessary Move, But Are We Killing Our Own Digital Growth?
In recent years, African governments have been looking for ways to tax non-resident tech giants—companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta—who generate billions in revenue from African consumers but contribute little in taxes to the local economy. On the surface, this seems like a fair move. After all, if these companies are making money in our markets, shouldn’t they pay their fair share?
But here’s the problem: If not done carefully, these digital taxes could hurt the very businesses and digital ecosystems African governments are trying to grow.
Let’s break it down.
Having had the privilege of judging numerous business pitch competitions across various industries—including the USAID Armyworm Challenge, the MTN Challenge for several years, the Africa Engineering Prize, MIT Solve, the Ghana Government Presidential Pitch, GSMA GLOMO Awards, and most recently the Ecobank Fintech Challenge—I’ve gained deep insights into the intersection of corporate and startup worlds. These competitions are a testament to the corporate sector’s desire to stay attuned to emerging trends in technology and innovation, a vital step in avoiding irrelevance. However, beyond the excitement of the pitch, I’ve observed a consistent gap: many corporates struggle to effectively capitalize on the potential of startup partnerships to truly drive growth.
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I left the conference thinking about what it would look like if telecom companies in Ghana could get banking licenses. I conducted an analysis of the potential effects, focusing on MTN due to its significant market share. It is important to note that MTN has clearly stated it is not seeking a banking license.
My analysis is based on data from the Ghana Banking Industry Report 2023 (A Report by LIMA Partners), the NCA data subscription analysis for December 2022 to January 2023, MTN Ghana’s FY 2023 results, and the BFT Banking Industry’s Performance in 2023 at a glance article, which is based on the summary of macroeconomic and financial data released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
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Following protracted negotiations, and industry consultations, the 37th African Union (“AU”) Heads of States Summit held on 17 – 18 February 2024, adopted the much anticipated AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade (“AfCFTA Digital Protocol”).
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As Ghana enters an election year and manifesto season is in full swing, digital transformation has become a hot topic. Given its pivotal role in national development, it’s crucial to ask the right questions when evaluating the digital and tech promises in these manifestos. I’m not wading into politics—just offering a framework, from a tech perspective, to help Ghanaians critically assess the digital strategies of those vying for leadership.
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n Ghana’s educational system landscape, a transformative journey is unfolding. The Commission for Vocational and Technical Education, an agency under the Ministry of Education, is spearheading an ambitious initiative to develop the nation’s first curriculum for Artificial Intelligence (AI) tailored specifically for programs in technical universities. This groundbreaking endeavor is set to equip students with the practical knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the fast-evolving AI industry, fostering a generation of innovators poised to lead Ghana into a new era of technological advancement.
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Speaking at the Ghana Jounalist Association 75th Anniversary
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