13 Aug Advancing digitalisation and innovation
Accounting for nearly half of its diverse economy, Ghana’s vibrant services sector grew by 7.6% in 2019. Within that sector, the highest-performing industry was information and communication technology (ICT), which recorded growth of 46.5%. This impressive rise reflects the fact that the country has built an impressive ecosystem for digitalization that includes telecommunications operators, internet providers, software manufacturers, fintech specialists, entertainment and gaming companies, and many other businesses. Supporting this advancing ecosystem is excellent infrastructure.
Internet penetration currently stands at 64% of the country and the majority of that is 3G coverage, with increasing volumes of 4G. As a result, Ghana has the highest mobile numbers in West Africa and a tech-savvy population. The government aims to increase internet coverage to 95% of the country by December and is planning to launch five high-speed submarine fibre-optic cables.
The current administration sees encouraging entrepreneurism, innovation and digitalisation as priorities. It has implemented a National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan and put in place capital, technical advice and corporate governance support for its entrepreneurs to succeed and expand. With funding from the World Bank, its e-Transform programme has also moved the digitalisation of the economy forward. This initiative has helped digitise government services for businesses, for example, and established a tech lab to up-skill and scale local startups in areas like artificial intelligence and robotics in partnership with 11 other Ghanaian hubs. According to the GSMA, this focus on ICT is already having a transformational impact on industries ranging from financial services to agriculture, health, education, energy, transport and logistics. More players are likely to be attracted to Ghana to extend that impact from next month, when its tax on electronic communication services is slashed from 9% to 5%.