Vice President and Flagbearer of the NPP. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has underscored the importance of digital id and tackle techniques to fashionable economies and nations.
Talking throughout his marketing campaign tour of Dome Kwabena Constituency in Accra on Thursday, Dr. Bawumia mentioned developed economies have gone forward leaving African nations behind, as a result of their economies went digital, including that, for African nations to catch up, there’s the necessity for African economies to additionally go digital.
Dr. Bawumia, who has passionately spearheaded Ghana’s exceptional digitalisation drive, mentioned he proposed that African economies ought to go digital in an effort to obtain financial transformation, in a guide he wrote 14 years in the past.
“I wrote a guide in 2010 – ‘Financial Coverage and Monetary Sector Reforms in Africa” and I made the purpose that Africa must go digital. That if we don’t go digital, we’re going to be left behind as a result of the digital revolution is the important thing for African financial improvement,” Dr. Bawumia informed a various viewers.
Having written the guide six years earlier than he grew to become Vice President, Dr. Bawumia mentioned as soon as he acquired the chance to function Vice President, he knew precisely the place his focus ought to be, with the blessings of President Akufo-Addo.
“After I got here into workplace, I centered on one space which is digitalisation of the financial system,” he mentioned.
“I centered on it for a very good purpose as a result of in fashionable financial system digitalisation is vital to fixing loads of issues not solely in Ghana however throughout Africa.”
Dr. Bawumia, nevertheless, added that for Ghana’s digitalisation to efficiently take off, a strong basis wanted to be constructed, as a result of with out thosef foundations, digitalising the financial system couldn’t have been achieved, therefore his give attention to that.
“There are issues you must do do first if you wish to enter the digital world. First, your residents should be digitally recognized. That’s why we mentioned allow us to problem the Ghanacard and the Ghana Card has been issued,” he mentioned.
“85% of adults in Ghana now have the Ghanacard. We’ve issued 18 million Ghana playing cards and that makes Ghana the main nation in sub- Saharan African for digital id. Immediately, even kids who’re born in Ghana, we’re giving them digital identities simply because it occurs overseas.”
“We give them an id quantity at delivery. We’ve linked that Ghanacard with the delivery and dirth registry in order that integration of these techniques is permitting Ghana to do one thing that no different nation on this planet has been capable of do.”
One other digital basis Dr. Bawumia mentioned he centered on, which he famous, is important to making a digital financial system, is digital tackle system.
“After we got here into workplace, Ghana was not having an tackle system that was working all through the nation.. However an tackle system is TV one of the essential components for any fashionable financial system,” mentioned Dr. Bawumia.
“An tackle system is sof essential that right this moment, in the event you go to the USA and also you collapse their tackle system; simply erase it, in the event you may, that financial system will collapse as a result of you possibly can’t operate. The companies can not operate with out an tackle system,,” he burdened.
Dr. Bawumia said that when he remained dedicated to constructing these constructions for a robust and environment friendly digital financial system for Ghana, many, who didn’t perceive the linkage between digitalisation and financial system, questioned what he was doing and in addition sought to mock him.
“After I began, many individuals couldn’t perceive how digitalisation associated to the financial system and so more and more, they’re now starting to grasp.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.