Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 06 | Page 40

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