Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has been adjudged the Digital Leader of the Year 2019 by the movers and shakers in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry in Ghana.

At a colourful ceremony in Accra on Friday, 28th June 2019, Vice President Bawumia was honoured for his dedication to leveraging technology to formalize the Ghanaian economy, which has seen the introduction of a number of innovations designed to make delivery of public services more efficient.

The Digital Leader of the Year Award was conferred on Vice President Bawumia at the 9th Ghana Information Technology & Telecom Awards (GITTA) 2019.

Since the Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo assumed office in January 2017, Vice President Bawumia has led the charge to formalize the largely informal Ghanaian economy, encouraging fintechs and other stakeholders in the ICT industry to come up with technological solutions to the challenges facing the nation.

Among others, this happy collaboration between Government and ICT firms has led to a drastic reduction in clearing and turn-around times at the country’s ports through the introduction of a Paperless Port system; virtual elimination of corrupt practices at the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority; the introduction of a Digital Property Addressing System; the issuance of a National ID card; and the provision of banking services to every resident of Ghana through the innovative Mobile Payments Interoperability platform.

The push for a digitized economy has also been extended into the health sector: Ghana now has the world’s largest medical drone programme, delivering critical blood supplies and other medical consumables to rural and hard to reach communities. As well, citizens can now renew their National Health Insurance from the comfort of their homes within minutes instead of hours and sometimes days. Plans are far advanced to make the country’s hospitals paperless.

Business registration, procurement and justice delivery are also going digital, with efforts ongoing to digitize the entire economy in the shortest possible time.

In brief remarks at the ceremony, Vice President Bawumia lauded the role technology continues to play in national development and assured stakeholders in the technology sector of Government’s commitment to the broad digitization agenda designed to produce a digitally-aware population.