Ghana unveiled a comprehensive digital economic strategy anchored on infrastructure, skills, trust, and innovation, with the government outlining five key priorities to drive inclusive growth and competitiveness in the technology sector.
Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Samuel Nartey George presented the strategic framework at the Digital Africa Summit in Accra on September 3, 2025, emphasizing connectivity for productivity, scaling digital skills with gender inclusion, digital finance, robust trust frameworks, and strategic technology procurement as core focus areas.
The minister’s announcement comes as a new GSMA report revealed that strategic digital reforms could add $20 billion to Ghana’s economy by 2030, highlighting the significant potential impact of the government’s digital transformation agenda.
Despite progress in Ghana’s digital landscape, George acknowledged persistent challenges including high data costs, uneven service quality, and escalating cybersecurity threats. The country has recorded over 6,400 cyber incidents this year alone, underscoring the critical need for enhanced digital security measures.
To address these challenges, the government has implemented several reforms designed to boost competition and reduce costs for consumers. These measures include spectrum allocation improvements, removal of the electronic transactions levy, and technology neutrality policies for telecommunications operators.
The reforms have already produced measurable results in the telecommunications sector. George reported that MTN bundles have increased by 15 percent while Telecel and AirtelTigo have expanded bandwidth capacity by 10 percent, demonstrating the effectiveness of the government’s competitive market approach.
Central to Ghana’s digital skills development is the ambitious One Million Coders program, which has attracted over 90,000 applications since its launch. The initiative targets training 100,000 young Ghanaians with essential digital skills by the end of 2025, positioning the country’s youth for opportunities in the expanding digital economy.
George emphasized the critical role of private sector participation in transforming digital policies into tangible economic impact. He issued a direct appeal to potential partners and investors to contribute actively to Ghana’s digital transformation journey.
The minister’s call to action focused on converting digital infrastructure into economic opportunities, urging stakeholders to help transform bandwidth into business ventures, data into informed decision-making, and programming code into employment opportunities for Ghanaians.
The Digital Africa Summit also served as the platform for launching a comprehensive digitalization study on Ghana, designed to function as a strategic roadmap for the country’s digital future. This research provides evidence-based guidance for policy implementation and investment decisions.
Ghana’s four-pillar approach represents a holistic strategy addressing both technical infrastructure needs and human capital development. The emphasis on trust frameworks reflects growing recognition that cybersecurity and data protection are fundamental to sustainable digital economic growth.
The gender inclusion component of the digital skills priority acknowledges the importance of ensuring equal access to digital opportunities for all Ghanaians, recognizing that inclusive growth requires addressing existing gender gaps in technology access and training.
Strategic technology procurement as a priority indicates the government’s intention to leverage public spending to support local digital capacity building and ensure that technology investments align with national development objectives.
The timing of Ghana’s digital strategy announcement coincides with broader continental efforts to accelerate digital transformation across Africa. The country’s position as host of multiple upcoming technology summits, including the Pan-African AI Summit later this month, reinforces its ambition to become a regional digital hub.
George’s presentation emphasized that successful digital transformation requires sustained collaboration between government, private sector, civil society, and international partners. The four-pillar framework provides a structured approach for coordinating these diverse stakeholders around common digital development goals.
As Ghana pursues its digital economic ambitions, the success of this strategy will depend on effective implementation of the five priority areas while maintaining focus on the foundational pillars of infrastructure, skills, trust, and innovation that underpin sustainable digital growth.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
