Business News of Saturday, 28 August 2021
Source: Lord Kweku Sekyi, Contributor
37 Ghanaian tech firms registered to exhibit their products and services to the public at the maiden edition of Infotech Fair held at the Accra Digital Centre.
The 2-day information and technology (IT) fair organized by the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), was intended to boost the position of Ghana in the African market by promoting local IT solutions for African businesses.
Addressing participants, the Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng, said improvements and advancements in technology must strongly affect the services sector in an unparalleled manner to boost transparency and efficiency in business.
Through its digitization agenda, she said that the government is keen on supporting local firms providing technological solutions in manufacturing, communications, entertainment, education, fintech, agri-tech and medical laboratory technology.
According to her, Ghana cannot miss out on the numerous opportunities in IT as the services sector in industrialized economies contributes more than 70% of GDP by depending heavily on ICT.
She said the government’s investment in priority areas includes digital infrastructure and connectivity, digital skills, research and innovation, data protection, privacy and trust for digital networks and services, and legal regulatory and policy framework.
The CEO of Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Dr. Afua Asabea Asare, said the services sector promotion is captured in Ghana’s National Export Development Strategy (NEDS), which is being spearheaded by GEPA to harness available resources for the export market in a bid to achieve a revenue of USD25.3 billion by the year 2029.
She said Infotech provides an ideal platform for networking and partnerships to prepare Ghana’s IT professionals for services export opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Dr. Fareed Arthur, a Senior Technical Advisor and Coordinator at the National AfCFTA Coordination Office of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said even though Ghanaian businesses have strong brands within the ECOWAS region, a national action plan for AfCFTA will be rolled out to focus on promoting Ghana across the entire continent.
