COUNTRY FOCUS: GHANA
COUNTRY FOCUS: GHANA
industry. Founding members in Ghana
include Persol Systems, IPMC, Exzeed
Company, Somuah Info Systems,
Platinum Technologies, ACS BPS
Ghana, e.Services Africa and The
Softribe, HIM Solutions.
ICT investments
•
There are considerable investment
opportunities in the ICT sector. The
sector requires service providers in
connecting international voice calls
to the local public network. Internet
service providers are required to offer
Internet access to the public especially
the rural areas, at less cost and
broadcasting operators to establish
radio and television broadcasting in
the country.
There is a lack of ICT facilities and
infrastructure on a broad scale across
the nation. Investments are needed
in the provision of software for the
country, extension of broadband
network to reach the whole country,
and to provide computer access to
rural students and technological
and other support-related services
such as the supply of quality
telecommunications equipment,
ICT equipment and office and
network equipment.
Potential areas of ICT investment in
Ghana include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Some of the recent investments
include:
•
•
40
The Government of Ghana
entered into a $260 million
partnership agreement with
the Government of Mauritius to
develop the Tema Information
and Communications Technology
Park into an ICT Centre for Ghana
and countries in the West African
sub-region. The partnership, which
is spearheaded by the Ghana
Investment Promotion Centre is
expected to create about 5,000
jobs for young graduates in ICT.
The multi-purpose facility will also
serve as offices for Samsung
and Microsoft.
Intel Capital made its first
investment in Ghana in Rancard
Solutions, a provider of cloud-
based mobile software, five years
INTELLIGENTCIO
ago. Ghana marks the 52nd
country Intel Capital has invested
in globally and is the second
investment in Africa following
the 2011 investment in South
Africa’s Altech.
Microsoft, in partnership with
Surfline Communications, a
Ghana-based telecommunications
network provider, recently opened
the country’s first Windows Zone
at Surfline’s flagship store based
in Accra. The outlet provides
consumers with the opportunity
to experience and interact with
a full suite of Microsoft products
and services in a single store and
gain insights on the benefits of
using Windows.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
IT education in the area
of software development,
networking, telecommunication,
IT engineering
Production of business solutions
Business processing outsourcing
Supply of telecommunication
equipment
Back office operations for
financial institutions
Provision of broadband facilities
and services
Internet service provision
Transaction processing
Manufacturing, assembling,
supply of computers and
accessories
VSAT services
E-commerce and legal database
services
Logistics management services
Medical transcription services
Telecommunications
Ghana currently has six registered
mobile operators, all of which are
functional. These are MTN, Vodafone
Mobile, Tigo, Expresso, Glo Mobile
Ghana and Airtel Mobile. Vodafone
and Airtel are the only two fixed-line
operators. The market continues to
grow aggressively in all segments, since
the enabling environment provided
by government continues to promote
GASSCOM was set
up to facilitate
business and trade
in software and
services and to
be an advocate in
government and
other public-sector
support.
mobile broadband networks.
In 2005, the number of broadband
subscribers stood roughly at 1,904. By
2010, the number of fixed subscribers
increased to 50,082. The rise continued
with 75,092 and 87,789 broadband
subscriptions being recorded in 2015
and 2016 respectively. It is significant
to note that the Internet subscriptions
per 100 inhabitants are lower than the
Internet penetration per year, since
a majority of Ghanaians make use of
Internet cafes.
competition. Increased competition, a
key driver of growth in the industry, is
witnessed in terms of: rising sale of SIM
cards and airtime, increased coverage,
quality of service on most networks,
introduction of cheap phones and
aggressive marketing promotions. According to the National
Communications Authority, mobile
broadband penetration rose from
65.3% in 2015 to 68.4% in 2016 with
total mobile broadband subscriptions
rising from 18,031,188 to 19,331,239
in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Ghana
is presently the country with the
highest mobile broadband penetration
in sub-Saharan Africa.
In December 2008, total access
lines stood at 11,713,699, including
mobile subscriptions and a
relatively low fixed telephony. The
rise in subscriptions has ascended
continuously with total access lines
reaching 38,556,568 in December
2016 respectively. Mobile phone
penetration increased steadily
to reach a 127.63% mark in
December 2015. By December 2016,
penetration reached an all-time
136.34%. Mobile penetration has
increased over ten-fold between the
period December 2008 to December
2016. Fixed telephone penetration,
on the other hand, has been relatively
marginal over the years. Over the years, broadband connectivity
has improved significantly and this is
partly due to the arrival of undersea
cable links. This includes SAT-3, West
African Cable System, Main One Cable,
Glo-1 and African Coast to Europe
submarine cable. SAT-3 was the first
undersea cable to be brought into
Ghana. It arrived in 2001 and presently
has capacity of 340GB per second.
The MainOne undersea cable followed
almost 10 years later in 2010 and has
5.12TB per second capacity. In 2011,
Glo-1 arrived and has 2.5TB per second
capacity. The WACS came on board
in 2012 with capacity of 5.12TB per
second. Early 2013, the ACE also came
on board with 5.2TB per second.
Internet and connectivity Electronic payment systems
Although Ghana’s mobile market
is quite saturated, with over 120%
penetration and keen competition
between the six mobile service
providers, there still exists room for
progress when it comes to the provision
of Internet connections. Together with
the mobile cellular market, the Internet
market in Ghana presents an important
potential for growth and development.
The improvement in Internet
penetration has been facilitated by
the coming of Wimax technology and Mobile money is a way of transferring
money, making payments and
initiating other transactions using
a mobile phone and other mobile
devices. In Ghana, it has played an
important role in extending financial
services to the unbanked and
underserved population. Participants
in this sub-segment include:
telecommunication companies,
partnering banks or financial
institutions, any other duly registered
e-money issuers, agents of e-money
www.intelligentcio.com
www.intelligentcio.com
issuers and users of the service. In
Ghana, the service is regulated by
Bank of Ghana, exercising its powers
to promote and supervise electronic
and other payments, funds transfer,
clearing and settlement systems. The
National Communications Authority,
the regulator of the telecoms sector,
also plays a key role.
The deep penetration of mobile
technology in Ghana has made it a
great medium for innovation around
service delivery. Since the introduction
of mobile money to the Ghanaian
market in 2009, it has played a key
role in the push for financial inclusion.
According to a study conducted by the
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor,
in 2010 a relatively large segment of
the Ghanaian population (44%), was
excluded from the financial services
sector. By 2015 however, the segment
of the population excluded from
the financial services fell to 25%,
following the introduction of mobile
money services.
Business processing outsourcing
Ghana is the leading destination
in sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of
Mauritius and Kenya, and 29th
globally out of 51 countries by the
2016 AT Kearney Global Services
Location Index. The Government
remains interested in making
Ghana a competitive destination
for business process outsourcing
having identified it as a focus area for
development, with emphasis being
placed on it as an economic driver.
This galvanised the establishment
of the IT Enable Services Secretariat,
an implementing arm of the Ministry
of Communication, to promote and
develop the sub-sector to become
a large source of income and
employment generation.
The preference for Ghana in
connection with this industry is
supported by its pool of skilled and
adaptable English speaking labour,
GMT collocated time zone and
competitive labour costs. Currently,
the IT-enabled services sector provides
approximately 3,000 jobs and Ghana’s
potential to become a significant
player in this industry is recognised. ¡
Excerpted content, courtesy of
Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
By 2015, the segment of population
excluded from financial services fell
to 25% following the introduction of
mobile money services.
INTELLIGENTCIO
41