Ghana goes to the polls in December 2024 to elect a new government. Currently, the Ghanaian voter will have to decide between two major parties, the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Both parties have publicly released their manifestos on what they plan to do in their administration if elected in December.
Here’s how both parties compare in addressing the tech industry in Ghana:
NPP’s Policies For The Tech Industry (PDF)
- Train one million young people in all areas and levels of digital skills
- Work with educational institutions and leading Ghanaian and global tech firms to establish a National Robotics, Engineering, and AI Lab for research and training of young Ghanaians locally
- Provide venture funding and grant support for commercially viable tech projects by Ghanaian start-ups to drive innovation, foster high-tech entrepreneurship, create jobs, and support growth of Ghanaian high-tech businesses
- Provide “live lab” opportunities to Ghanaian tech start-ups under a Matchmaking Programme, by purposely connecting them to matured/large tech firms working on government tech projects, to help start-ups test their ideas in real-world environments, and to accelerate their product development cycle
- Work with the Bank of Ghana to significantly expand Regulatory Sandbox to admit more Ghanaian as well as regional Fintechs. This will position Ghana as a Multi-Regulatory/Multi Jurisdictional Sandbox for financial and payments interoperability
- Establish a Fintech Fund with seed capital of $100 Million to attract additional private sector funding to support Ghanaian start-ups developing payments and financial services solutions, specially focused on Region-wide, exportable solutions
- Continue leading in the African Union policy campaign to achieve cross-border mobile money interoperability to significantly enhance the buying and selling of goods and services across Africa. This will instantly expose Ghanaian enterprises and young entrepreneurs to a market of 1.4 billion people
- Implement a Digital Residency (e-Residency) for businesses and individuals in tech firms, to register and operate from within Ghana
- Implement a 5-Year Digital Nomad Visa and Work Permit to attract global tech talents to domicile and work from Ghana
- Appoint a Digital Ambassador whose role will be to develop new external markets for Ghanaian digital talent and products
- Increase internet penetration to over 90% as pertains in advanced economies. Internet Penetration has been increased from 32% in 2016 to 70% in 2024
- Implement comprehensive data interoperability across government platforms to enhance transparency and streamline services
- Create a marketplace to streamline public sector procurement
- Abolish E-Levy
- Ensure holders of GhanaCard are not required to fill out separate forms to apply for passports
- Work with industry players to make more spectrum available to operators at affordable prices including 5G, and eliminate import duties on mobile phones until manufacturing capacity is established in Ghana.
NDC’s Policies for the Tech Industry (PDF)
- 24-Hour Economy: Policy to encourage and support businesses and public organisations to operate 24/7 in three shifts of eight hours each to boost production, promote productivity, and generate well-paying jobs.
- The Women’s Development Bank: A special-purpose bank run by women. It will support women-owned and women-led businesses with low-interest loans and other tailored financial services on very flexible terms. This is aimed at economically
empowering a minimum of one million Ghanaian women.
- One Million Coders Programme: one million young Ghanaians will be trained in digital skills such as coding, WebApp development, and software engineering, among others, for jobs in the digital eco-system.
- Regional Digital Centres (modeled on the Accra Digital Centre) will be established to facilitate the expansion of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) sectors for job creation.
- A $50 million FinTech Growth Fund will be established to promote the growth of digital entrepreneurs and support Indigenous FinTech companies.
- Zonal ICT Parks will be established nationwide to make Ghana the hub for innovation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity in Africa. Existing ICT parks, such as the Dawa ICT Park, will be redeveloped into world-class centres of excellence to create jobs.
Our Take
Both parties state that they will enforce policies to stimulate the creativity sector but don’t go into specific details or numbers
Our Take on NPP’s Manifesto
Vice President Mawumud Bawumia has been pushing a digitisation agenda for the NPP since sworn into office.
As the current flagbearer, Dr Bawumia’s policies are more specific and focus on Ghana and the continent, with a push for mobile money interoperability and implementing an e-resident policy for foreign workers. Some of the policies also are more specific with data, especially on achieving 90% internet penetration.
Ironically, the NPP manifesto adds the abolishment of the E-Levy even though the current administration pushed for it to be passed due to the IMF arrangement.
The NPP policies are tech are more broad and more specific when reviewed holistically.
Our Take on NDC’s Manifesto
The NDC manifesto isn’t as broad as the NPP’s but it doesn’t have some points which could boost the tech industry.
Interestingly, the NDC has a “Fintech” fund specified in its policy similar to the NPP with the only difference being the amount that fund would have. In the NDC plan, it would be a $50 million fund compared to the NPP’s $100 million fund.
The NDC’s main focus is the 24 hr economy policy which would give special benefits to businesses that implement shift services for its workers. We would need more specifics on this policy, especially on the benefits side (eg % of tax incentives etc).
The NDC’s policy is not as broad or specific when compared to the NDC but it doesn’t have some points including the Women’s Development Bank which would empower female entrepreneurs in the ecosystem.
Overall
Overall, we think the NPP offers more policy advancements in its manifesto compared to the NDC. However, it would be hard for the NPP to sell the idea of abolishing an existing policy like the E-Levy.
The NDC’s 24-hour economy would be interesting in its implementation and there could be increased benefits for the tech ecosystem but there needs to be an outline on specifics including the amount of tax reliefs tech companies could see if they implement shift systems.
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