Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president, has reaffirmed his belief in the crucial part that technology plays in the transformation of economies in the twenty-first century.
The Vice President, who is credited with leading Ghana’s ongoing digital transformation drive, spoke on Monday at the launch of the Ghana Electronic Pharmacy Platform (ePharmacy), Africa’s first national-scale ePharmacy, in Accra. He emphasised the importance of the global digital economy and said that nations that do not embrace it will fall behind.
The findings show that the worth of the global digital economy is $11.5 trillion (15.5 percent of GDP). Dr. Bawumia cited the S12.6 billion global cocoa industry as evidence for the necessity for a developing country like Ghana to give digitalization top priority for economic success.
Some people, according to Dr. Bawumia, believe that economic progress can only be attained via the use of physical structures.
He disagreed, pointing out that technological advancement and the implementation of systems are also necessary for economic transformation.
“Brick and mortar alone cannot change an economy. An economy can only be transformed by ideas, systems, and institutions. said Dr. Bawumia.
“We are concentrating on these concepts, systems, and institutions because of this.”
Assertions that he has ceased addressing economic difficulties and is just focusing on the digitalization of the economy were laughed off by the vice president, who added that those making these claims are unaware of the close connection between digitalization and contemporary economies.
People may comment that you are not studying economics. However, without the necessary structures and mechanisms, your economy will not be able to function in the 21st century.
As we move forward in the 21st century, that is why we are concentrating on developing all of these systems, or digital platforms, the Vice President said, noting that the nation’s ongoing digitalization drive has significantly increased efficiency and revenue at some digitalized government agencies and also curbed many corrupt practices.
The fact that the fourth industrial revolution is a digital revolution is what piques our interest in digitalization as a government.
By using digital platforms to solve problems, “digitalization allows us to eliminate bureaucracy and corruption in the delivery of public services, boosts efficiency, lowers the cost of doing business, and makes life easier for Ghanaians,” he stated.
Despite all of this, according to Dr. Bawumia, “those with the minds of impossibilities” have cast doubt on each and every digital initiative the government has launched.
People claimed he was lying when he introduced several of the advances he named, but they have since been put into use and are being used by Ghanaians.
“However, a significant number of people refuse to grasp the significance of digitalization to our economic development.
They will therefore ridicule every new invention. Because they did not understand when we mentioned that when we brought mobile money interoperability, any adult Ghanaian would be able to have a bank account, they made fun of the digital address system and the mobile money interoperability.
With mobile money interoperability, 90% of adult Ghanaians now have at least one bank account or mobile money account, and since the two are interoperable and essentially function the same, we have achieved our goal.
They are unaware that, thanks to the Ghanacard, we have been able to raise the percentage of Ghanaians with Tax Identification Numbers from 4% to 85% since taking office.
“People laughed at the concept because they couldn’t see how the ICAO-certified Ghanacard could be used as a travel document.
The Ghanacard now makes it possible for people from our diaspora to visit Ghana without a visa.
“When we introduced Ghana Pay, making Ghana the first nation in the world to have a bank-wide mobile money wallet, people did not believe it.
Typically, telcos are the ones who create mobile money wallets.
“People struggled to comprehend the usage of a zipline medical drone service to transport life-saving medical supplies.
They made an effort to persuade people that drones should be used to photograph women in restrooms. Ghana currently operates the world’s largest drone delivery service.
“Unfortunately, those in government who work to move our nation forward are up against a mindset that only sees obstacles; a mindset that won’t accept that an African nation like Ghana can lead the globe in embracing digital technology.
“For this reason, I take pleasure in consistently disproving the doubters.
They typically accuse him of lying when I claim we are going to accomplish something.
When it does, they remain silent. At the end of the day, we must all keep in mind that brick and mortar alone cannot change an economy.
An economy can only be transformed by ideas, systems, and institutions. not simply physical structures.