Gov’t Digitization Drive Is The Backbone Of The Economy – Dr. Bawumia
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has defended government’s unending drive on the digitalization of the Ghanaian economy.
He explained that the benefits of such an agenda are in the interest of the country.
According to him, the previous systems of going about business transactions without technology have been disadvantageous.
The Vice President was speaking at the launch of the NPP-USA branch Member Management System which was held on Zoom Saturday night.
He opined, “This [analogue] system frustrates, other than helping ordinary people. Why is it that after 60 years of independence of this country, the system remained basically the same or in some cases worsened? The goal upon assumption of office was to quickly transform our economy by leveraging on the technology advancement as means to leapfrog the advancement and developmental process that comes with the legacy problems of both economic and public sector governance. This is why digitalization has been a major focus of the Nana Addo government”, Dr. Bawumia said.
He added that challenging the status quo has been misconstrued to mean a deviation of the government’s primary aim of revamping the ailing Ghanaian economy.
He stressed, “sometimes people say, well, we thought you were an economist, but you’re doing so much in IT space. Have you left economics behind? No, no, not at all. In fact, it is because of the economy that I’m focusing on digitising because without building those pillars, our economy will just not be able to stand on its own feet.”
The Vice President maintained that digitalizing the economy will rather yield a more positive result.
“Unfortunately, many people do not appreciate the link between digitization and economic development. I have heard people say I am abandoning economics for digitization. Far from abandoning economics, the reality is that in this era, if you don’t digitize you will not have much of an economy, period! Indeed, digital policy is economic policy!”
The Vice President said the government is implementing a new system as a foundation to drive digital transformation in Ghana.
Dr. Bawumia believes this will position the country to be globally competitive in the emerging digital revolution as follows:
A system based on integrated (centralized) data
A system with unique identification numbers for the population
A system with addresses for all properties and locations
A system that is transparent, and promotes accountability, discipline and trustworthiness.
An inclusive system.
A system that minimizes corruption in the delivery of public services
A system where the operations of government institutions are digitized for efficient service delivery
A system that is formalizing the informal sector
A system that is reducing the cash dominance in economic transactions
A system that has broadened the tax base and built the vehicle for domestic revenue mobilization
A system where the credit reference agencies will be effective
A system that supports law enforcement
A system where healthcare is accessible to people in remote areas.