Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced plans by the government to ensure that internet services are available and affordable to all in the country.
According to him, the government had made some progress by increasing internet penetration from 26 per cent in 2017 to 50 per cent.
“We are working to further increase internet access especially in rural areas,” Dr Bawumia said at a public lecture at Ashesi University at Brekuso in the Eastern Region.
“Our progress in digital transformation justifies the vision of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that Ghana should benchmark itself against the best in the world and move away from the “dependency mentality” to a “can do” attitude.”
“Thanks to the vision of the President and the co-operation and hard work of our ministers and heads of agencies across many sectors, we have done in five years what Ghana was not able to do after 60 years of independence,” he said
He said although the country was not yet where it ought to be, the government had made a great start in building a digitalised economy.
He admitted that there was also more to be done to embed the major digital reforms in the everyday lives of Ghanaians.
Vice President Bawumia stressed the need to put in place new systems and called on all Ghanaians to commit to embracing the digital age.
“I am excited about the prospects of the nation we are building, the brilliant minds being nurtured who are contributing towards this vision and I look forward to all of you playing a role in making our nation great and strong.
“The digital revolution is a youth-driven revolution. It is your revolution,” he told the audience.
Touching on the government’s economic performance, he said the current administration had created more jobs than any government in the 4th Republic and had reduced inflation from 15 per cent to near single digits.
Dr Bawumia said the government had achieved the lowest exchange rate depreciation for any first term government in the 4th Republic, and recorded positive trade balance in successive years.
He indicated further that the government had worked to safeguard food security and fought against hunger through Planting for Food and Jobs.
“We have also worked towards stimulating industrialisation from the ground up through One District One Factory. More factories have been set up than under any other government in the history of Ghana,” he said.
BY YAW KYEI
