Full text: Communications Minister briefs media on sector developments in 1st Quarter
Source: myjoyonline

Honourable Minister for Government Communications, Chief Director and Directors of the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Heads of Agencies under the Ministry and my esteemed friends in the media, good afternoon. It has been exactly 92 days since the John Dramani Mahama government got sworn into office and 61 days since I took the oath of Minister of State and assumed my role as Minister responsible for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations. It seems like a year has already swung by already. I have turned into action seeking to fulfil His Excellency’s mandate and the charge the Ghanaian people have entrusted into our care. As part of my approach to transparent and accountable governance, this is the first of quarterly updates from my Ministry on our stewardship and the actions taken towards achieving the RESET agenda. In the first quarter of 2025, the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations laid a solid foundation for a digitally resilient Ghana that delivers real value and opportunity for every Ghanaian. The technology sector is a central pillar of Ghana’s economic reset and is critical to positioning Ghana at the top of the digital and competitive global economy. Recognising this, His Excellency the President made a pre-election promise to launch the One Million Coders Programme, a bold initiative to train one million young Ghanaians in digital skills, empowering them to thrive in the rapidly growing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sectors. We have moved quickly to turn this vision into action to equip our youth for the future of work through the One Million Coders Program. The Ministry launched intensive efforts to mobilise partners and secure the resources needed to implement the program and deliver results at scale through strategic diplomacy and public-private partnerships. Under my guidance, the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in ICT has developed a standardised curriculum in multiple digital skills disciplines at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels to enable a uniform training ecosystem for all Ghanaians irrespective of the part of our Country in which they reside. A landmark Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the MTN Group, with several other agreements with other private Ghanaian and International partners currently being finalised to support implementation, all aligned with our commitment to positioning Ghana as Africa’s premier digital talent hub. The level of interest and support from the private sector is a testament to the visionary leadership of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. 1 am confident that several private partnership verticals would see us achieve the ambitious goal of positioning Ghana as a net exporter of critical digital skills in the short to medium term. The Ministry will launch the program with a pilot covering Greater Accra, Ashanti, Bono, and Upper East Regions on April 16th, with over 500 people from Accra, Bolga, Sunyani, and Kumasi expected to participate in the launch. The program is inclusive by design, with an integrated 50/50 gender split. Further, we would leverage our district assemblies and Community Information Centers in the subsequent implementation phase to ensure that the program reaches every corner of Ghana, not just urban centres. At the core of digital inclusion is affordable internet access. And it is pursuant to this that the President promised to partner with private sector players to make internet access more affordable for low-income households through targeted subsidies, discounted data packages, and device financing schemes. In February, I established a multi-stakeholder Data Cost Pricing Committee comprising telecommunication service providers, consumer groups, and regulators. The Committee was given a 14-day mandate to deliver a roadmap for implementation to achieve more cost-effective data prices. The Committee delivered its report in 13 days. I am grateful to all the stakeholders who worked assiduously and at no cost to the State to produce a short, medium-and long-term approach to data price rationalisation in our Country. Again, I say ayekoo to them for their selfless service to our Country. I have studied the roadmap and referred it to the regulator – the National Communications Authority. The Authority under the able leadership of the Ag. Director-General has held several engagements with mobile network operators to discuss fashion implementation modalities. I have personally engaged with the CEOs of the three MNOs, and I am pleased to announce that all three have presented the Ministry and Regulator with specific improved data bundles for tertiary students across the Country, as well as content creation and gig economy demographics. In the coming days, the NCA will finalise the implementation and technical requirements with the relevant stakeholders for a public rollout. In the interim, I have agreed with all three network operators to have unique data bundle packages for all subscribers on five national holidays – Independence Day, May Day, Republic Day, Founder’s Day and Farmers Day. The Independence Day test run was a resounding success, and I look forward to working with the NCA and the MNOs on May Day for our next holiday offering in celebration of the workers of Ghana. I have also noted several complaints about the quality of service of almost all the network providers in the Country. This past week, I have taken decisive policy decisions to approve technology neutrality and additional spectrum for MTN Ghana. I have also directed the NCA to offer additional spectrum to Telecel Ghana. These are to provide both operators with more resources to improve their service offerings. On the back of these approvals, I wish to serve notice that the NCA would, within three months of the assignments of this additional spectrum, begin rigorous enforcement of Qos on the providers. Failure to provide a marked improvement in the quality of service would result in stiff fines. The Ministry and Regulator have a fidelity to the Ghanaian people to ensure they get the best customer service and experience. The telecommunications sector has not been without its challenges. The previous government acquired AirtelTigo and rebranded it as AT with a reported purchase value of $1. Nothing could have been more disingenuous and unpatriotic. When the company was bought, its debt portfolio stood at $400 million, and its revenues could not meet monthly overheads. The core and billing platforms have reached the end of life, and both Bharti Airtel and Millicom (Tigo) have failed to make any meaningful investments in both companies over the past five years. The decision to step in at the time can best be described as ill-informed and reckless. It was an abdication of responsibility to the best interest of Ghana. Today, after a debt restructuring arrangement, the debt portfolio sits at about $200 million, rising as the company makes a monthly operating loss of GHS20 million. The bleeding needs to be triaged, and urgent steps are underway to engage the company’s creditors in negotiating haircuts to ensure the company’s viability. I will be updating the Nation in the course of this quarter on the policy directions the Ministry would be taking as a sole shareholder to ensure the security of the jobs of employees and the long-term survival of the business. To effectively regulate technology in today’s fast-evolving digital environment, I have initiated a comprehensive review of existing legislation and regulatory frameworks. The Ministry I took over has legislation that should be in the museum and not as the underpinnings of a technology Ministry. The current State of the legislative environment of the Ministry is as follows; – The Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT has no Establishment Act – Ghana Telecom Act, 2003 – Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission Act 2003 (Act 649) and Regulation 2013 (L.I. 2205) – Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) – Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 (Act 772) – National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769) – Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) – Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) We are redrafting outdated laws to ensure they reflect present realities, anticipate future developments, and provide a transparent, enabling environment for innovation, investment, and consumer protection. I am confident I will lay the revised legislation before Parliament in its next meeting. As part of this broader legislative effort, I convened strategic meetings with key stakeholders led by the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme across the startup and innovation ecosystem to build consensus on the path forward for the Ghana Innovation and Startup Bill. Together, we have developed a clear roadmap to finalise the Bill. This landmark legislation is essential for creating a robust legal and regulatory framework that empowers startups to grow, attract investment, and scale solutions that generate jobs and drive long-term economic transformation. I am grateful to our partners who have helped us achieve this much in so short a time. Recognising the impact of emerging technologies, the President made a pre-election promise to develop a National Digital Transformation and Emerging Technology Strategy to guide the ethical deployment of digital tools such as Al and emerging technologies for development. Following this, the Ministry has prioritised dialogue on Artificial Intelligence to fully assess its opportunities, security implications, and resource demands and ensure we put the appropriate governance framework in place for an ethical, inclusive, and beneficial development and adoption of Al. Ghana has entered strategic partnerships with key partners such as the British High Commission, UNESCO, and other international organisations to support efforts towards Ghana’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and blueprint. Furthermore, the Ministry has commenced critical efforts to digitise the Nation’s essential data sets as a foundational step in our national Artificial Intelligence agenda. This initiative aims to enable Al systems to learn from local data, ensuring that the models we develop reflect our lived realities, cultural nuances, and development priorities. Al models trained solely on foreign datasets risk overlooking Indigenous knowledge and reinforcing learned biases that do not serve our interests. By anchoring Al development in our data, we are safeguarding digital sovereignty and building truly Ghanaian technologies in design and purpose. Recognising how critical prudent expenditure management is to Ghana’s economic recovery, the Mahama Administration pledged to fight corruption and graft head-on. In line with this commitment, one of my first actions was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Ministry’s financial position to guide how best to move forward. This review unearthed several irregularities, prompting a detailed investigation into the contracts entered into through the Ministry and its agencies on behalf of the Ghanaian people. The Ministry is following up with the relevant parties to establish the facts and take corrective action where necessary. We are deeply concerned about the disregard for public interest reflected by the unfavourable terms in some agreements and the resistance encountered in accessing key information from certain service providers. Against this backdrop, I have referred some contracts and agreements to the Attorney-General for his study and advice. One thing, however, is crystal clear to me as Minister – I would clean up the Ministry and its Agencies. It is my solemn pledge to the President and the people of Ghana. I wish to announce that on the back of the foregoing, I will NOT be extending the Common Monitoring Platform contract, popularly called KelniGVG, beyond its current terminal date. The contract is in two parts – one paid for by my Ministry through the NCA and another component paid for by the Ministry of Finance through the GRA. I have instructed the NCA to begin to hold itself in preparedness to carry out the revenue assurance platform on its own. This position is backed by the fact that at the commencement of the contract in 2018, the monthly fee paid represented 28% of the revenue accruing to the State from international inbound traffic. By the end of the first 5- year term of the contract, however, the monthly fee represented about 50% of the revenue accruing to the State. As of October 2024, the fees paid to KelniGVG represent 84% of the revenue accruing to the State. This means the State is paying far more to monitor the revenue than it retains. Another Agency under the Ministry that has had a considerable amount of my attention is the National Information Technology Agency (NITA). Some agreements that I have inherited have caused deep concern, and I have begun steps to either extricate the government from unreasonableness or achieve a more favourable arrangement that is in the best interest of Ghanaians. As part of operationalising the Digital Services and Payment Platform (DSPP) Call Centre, managed under a contract between NITA and DigitalGOV Limited, two companies, Sawtel Ltd and Dataceum Ltd, provided Project Management Services. Some irregularities observed by the Ministry under this contract include; • NITA is making monthly payments to the two firms despite the firms not being directly contracted by NITA. Instead, they signed contracts with DigitalGOV Limited on March 1st, 2020, for an initial four-year term ending February 29th, 2024. Despite this, NITA has made monthly payments directly to the two firms as service providers throughout the contract period, creating a misalignment in accountability and oversight. • Both Sawtel and Dataceum appear to deliver nearly identical project management functions for the DSPP Call Centre, with no clear delineation of roles, responsibilities, or reporting lines. • The contracts with both firms expired on February 29th, 2024. No formal renewals or new engagement frameworks are in place, raising questions about continued service provision and NITA’s legal or financial obligations. The Ministry is in the process of assessing the necessity of continuing with either or both. Sawtel and Dataceum in a bid to eliminate duplication and ensure cost-efficiency in future project management support for DSPP and to incorporate project management under the broader DSPP Governance Framework, as recommended in the DigitalGOV contract review, with clear reporting to NITA. I also directed an audit and update of the Smart Infraco (Lebara Ghana Ltd) e-Government Infrastructure Agreement. Upon receipt of NITA’s assessment report, I promptly took steps to restore compliance, transparency, and fiscal discipline in managing our national e government infrastructure. I issued a directive for Smart Infraco to grant full physical and logical access to the e-Government infrastructure. This became necessary as the audit discovered that no financial dashboard or audit trail was provided to NITA to track revenue or operations, as initially stipulated in the contract. Also, NITA personnel were denied physical and logical access to infrastructure that the Agency legally owns, including the Data Center Facility and Network Operations Centre. NITA initiated engagements to ensure compliance, and we have made some progress in establishing and verifying about 95% of access. The Ministry shall engage directly with Smart Infraco to compel immediate payment of all outstanding amounts (including $6 million in initial and annual fees and revenue shares), invoking penalty and termination clauses as necessary to protect government interests. To the people of Ghana, I offer this assurance: I will get to the bottom of these issues and act decisively to restore sound financial stewardship in the Ministry. Still, on the subject of stewardship, I have directed the National Communications Authority to conduct a frequent audit as part of the government’s “Operation Recover All Loot” (ORAL) initiative, aimed at identifying and reclaiming all State resources within the purview of the Ministry which may have been handed over to private interests in a manner inconsistent with law and laid down procedure. The exercise, the first phase of a full audit of broadcasting frequencies to ensure proper management and compliance with legal procedures, identified incidents of non-compliance that would attract a total penalty tax of about 9.5 million Ghana Cedis and several infractions that warranted immediate shutdowns. The government is committed to taking the necessary action to ensure rectification of the instances of non-compliance. In the period under review, | have taken steps to better position Ghana Post to take advantage of the increased e-commerce activity and to ensure Ghana’s readiness to take full advantage of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Plans are underway to strengthen the backbone of domestic and cross-border trade logistics, especially for small businesses across the Country looking to expand beyond national borders. To position Ghana Post as a relevant and competitive public service in 2025 and beyond, the Ministry is implementing a three-pronged reform strategy, informed by an internal readiness assessment. First, we are updating existing infrastructure and information systems to reflect technological advancements and ensure resilience against cybersecurity threats. Second, we are modernising logistics systems to guarantee faster and more reliable delivery across all regions. Third, we are expanding service offerings to include e commerce support, secure parcel handling, and access to critical public services. These reforms will transform Ghana Post into a vital enabler of e-commerce, cross-border trade, and citizen access to essential government services, laying the foundation for a more connected and efficient national economy. In line with the critical reforms necessary to reset the Ministry when I took over, I took decisive steps in consultation with the World Bank Country Office in Accra to terminate the contracts of 13 staff under the Project Implementation Unit of the World Bank-funded Ghana Digital Acceleration Programme. This became necessary to show our zero level of tolerance for any semblance of graft or corruption in the Ministry. These terminations were a patriotic action aimed to save the State from any representation that affects our international image. The Ministry has secured clearance from the World Bank to replace the terminated staff, and we have proceeded to advertise the roles in the national dailies for two weeks, which lapsed last Friday. The interview panel is conducting a robust, competitive assessment to select the best-suited candidates. I have also directed the Acting Administrator of the Universal Access Fund – GIFEC – to immediately begin an asset inventory of our infrastructure across the Country to ensure that these Centres built primarily under the first John Mahama administration are put to use as 360° whole of government centres bring digital government services to the doorsteps of Ghanaians. GIFEC has also stepped up work to complete the Rural Telephony project to improve Ghana’s Digital Inclusion drive. The completion of the project would connect an additional 4 million Ghanaians. On the legislative flank, we have begun work to evolve GIFEC into the Digital Economy and Innovation Development Fund in line with the NDC’s Resetting Ghana manifesto. Even as I remain focused on delivering on the President’s charge, I am minded by the increased incidents of orchestrated campaigns of mis(dis)information. I have instructed the Cyber Security Authority to improve its digital surveillance and monitoring. Several collaborative operations with sister security agencies have been undertaken and are currently underway to send a clear signal that such acts of public mis(dis)information would not be tolerated. The government once again reiterates our respect for the freedom of expression and rights to public/private communications of citizens but also reminds us all that we have a collective civic duty to be responsible in our communication. In the spirit of full transparency, I would present specialised legislation on mis(dis)information before Parliament in its next meeting to create a clear legal framework for law enforcement. Ghana’s digital voice continues to be heard on the global stage. From the Mobile World Congress and ITU Forum to the World Bank Digital Summit and the Global Summit on Al in Africa, we have articulated our digital ambition and built valuable alliances. Our priority remains clear as we advance: building a digital Ghana where innovation thrives, access is equitable, and all share technology’s benefits. We have continued to deepen strategic international partnerships, engaging with UNDP, Germany, Turkey, and Italy to strengthen our digital infrastructure, policy frameworks, and innovation ecosystems. The World Bank, ITU, DCO, CTO, ATU, and Smart Africa remain strong partners in our digital reset agenda, and I am grateful to them for their support so far. I look forward to achieving our shared goals. As we move into the second quarter of the year, the Ministry is poised to make even more significant progress towards a sustainable plan to ensure reliable and affordable internet for all, pilots of the one million coders program, the national Al strategy, and digitising public service delivery. We would see the strengthening of our policy and regulatory frameworks. We would commence public sensitisation and education towards the impending SIM Registration and Central Equipment Identity Register. Once more, I make a firm pledge that Ghanaians would not be saddled with having to abandon work and queue for long hours to register their SIMs. The process would be human-centred and technology-driven. This registration is critical for our collective security as a Nation. Ghana’s digital future is being built today with purpose, with strategic partnerships, and with the people at the centre. Let us press forward together. May God bless our Homeland, Ghana, and make her great and strong. Thank you.