App For SIM Re-registration In Offing; Only 2m Out Of 40m Captured So Far- Communications Minister
Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has hinted that plans are underway to introduce a mobile application that will aid self-registration in the ongoing national SIM card registration exercise.
According to her, only about two million of the population as of the end of last week have been able to register successfully, a situation she describes as very low. This is due to the number of SIM cards yet to be registered, hence the need for the ‘app’ to facilitate the exercise.
Speaking at at the 11th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards in Accra, where she won the Digital Leader Year, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said “I must say in the coming weeks, we’re working on launching an application for self-registration.”
“A mobile application that will let individuals register at their own convenience without any delay. This is because looking at the figures it is just about two million SIM cards that had been registered so far and we have about 40 million cards nationwide to register”, she noted.
“I think that is on a bit low side hence the need for us to quicken the pace and clean up our digital eco-system for once and for all” she added.
On how the exercise was faring, she said “it is going well, but let me sound this caution that we are very serious about deactivating all unregistered SIM cards by March 2022 and therefore everyone who is yet to register must take the necessary processes to get registered before the deadline.”
The compulsory SIM card registration exercise begun in the first week of October 2021 for all mobile phone users to register their mobile numbers.
Other award winners of the night are as follows:
| Cyber Security Consulting Company of the Year | Cyberteq Falcon |
| Emerging ICT Company of the Year | Technology Advantage Group |
| Mobile Data Service Provider of the Year | MTN |
| Enterprise Solutions Provider of the Year | Comsys |
| Cyber Forensic Technology Solutions Provider of the Year | e-Crime Bureau |
| Wholesale Infrastructure provider of the Year | CSquared |
| Unified Communications Provider of the Year | Vodafone |
| Wireless Infrastructure Provider of the Year | ATC |
| Customer Experience of the Year | MTN |
| Promoting Public Sector Digital Inclusion | Ascend Digital Solutions |
| Payments System Innovation of the Year | GhQR By GhIPSS |
| Best Use of ICT in Driving Efficiency | Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority ( DVLA) |
| Metro Fibre Infrastructure Company of the Year | Comsys |
| Excellence in ICT for Sustainable Development | GIFEC |
| Telecom Support Company of the Year | ATC |
| Innovative Card Product of The Year | Eazypay Gh Dual Card By Zenith Bank |
| Fintech Company of the Year | Zeepay |
| Mobile Money Leadership Award | MTN Momo |
| Smartphone Brand of the Year | TECNO |
| Internet Service Provider of the Year | Comsys |
| Business Transformation Company of the Year | Cloudware |
| Telecom Business Service Provider of the Year | Vodafone |
| Digital Bank of the Year | Standard Chartered |
| Best ATM and Kiosk Implementation Award | Absa |
| Innovative Product of the Year | Vodafone Cash |
| Excellence in Cyber Security Initiatives | Cyber Security Authority |
| Mobile Banking App of the year | Standard Chartered |
| Excellence in Social Investment | MTN |
| Phone Distributor of the Year | Mobile Zone |
| Best Bank for Financial Inclusion | Zenith Bank Ghana |
| Innovative e-payment solutions Provider of the Year | Accelerex Ghana |
| ICT Manage Services Company of the Year | Liranz |
| Innovative Data Centre Provider of the Year | Africa Datacentre ( ADC) |
| Africa Infrastructure Company of the Year | IHS |
| Excellence in Driving Digital Transformation | HUAWEI |
| Digital Transformation Provider of the Year | Reliance Infosystem |
| Network Operations Team of the Year | MTN Network Team |
| Digital Transformation Team of the Year | Vodafone |
| Customer Service Team of the Year | MTN Customer Service Team |
| Telecom Tower Hall all of Fame | ATC |
| Bespoke Data Product of the Year | AirtelTigo |
| Outstanding Contribution to ICT Reporting | Samuel Dowuona, Editor, Tech24gh |
| Most Promising Customer Services Professional of the Year | Salihu Abu, Senior Manager, Customer Relations & Credit Management, MTN |
| Most Promising Technology Professional of the Year | Joseph Lamptey, Technology – Service Delivery, Vodafone |