In early November, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia was chosen by the New Patriotic Occasion as its candidate in Ghana’s 2024 presidential elections, which incumbent Nana Akufo-Addo won’t contest following two phrases in workplace.
Earlier than coming into politics because the shock running-mate choose for Akufo-Addo within the 2008 elections, Mahamudu Bawumia was deputy governor of Ghana’s central financial institution and one of many staff that carried out the redenomination of the foreign money and a fairly profitable programme focusing on inflation. As Akufo-Addo’s Vice-President since 2017, Bawumia has discovered himself a brand new mission.
Whereas he serves within the conventional function of Ghanaian Vice-Presidents as head of the federal government’s financial administration staff – throughout a time wherein the nation has entered an financial disaster and emerged with an IMF bundle – he has largely devoted himself to the digital transformation agenda, turning into the chief apostle, instigator and overseer of a number of landmark digitalisation tasks which can be slowly remodeling how Ghanaians commerce, entry public companies, work together with one another and journey.
Critics have been fast to accuse him of deserting the financial mandate, particularly within the wake of latest financial challenges, however Bawumia insists that digitalisation could be very a lot a part of the financial transformation that his get together promised.
With Bawumia himself main the get together into the 2024 election, that message can be examined and the impression rigorously assessed. We talked about how his latest priorities will feed into his presidential bid.
New African: The digitalisation of presidency has been a central pillar of this administration – how have you ever pushed digital transformation?
Mahamudu Bawumia: Once we got here to workplace, we checked out how greatest to realize our goal of modernising our nation and creating extra inclusion by way of society and getting extra progress. We checked out the place the world was heading and the way do you get this nation able to take part within the fourth industrial revolution.
Africa missed out on the primary, second and third industrial revolutions and we didn’t need Africa and Ghana to additionally miss out on the fourth. We got here to the conclusion that digitalisation was one of the best ways to get inclusion in society and that we might leverage know-how to handle many points.
You’ll be able to herald effectivity within the supply of public companies, you’ll be able to cut back corruption, you’ll be able to improve entry [to the poorest]. Traditionally the elites have typically been the beneficiaries of the inefficiencies which have come by way of since independence. For me and for us, digitalisation is a method of lifting up the poor to take part absolutely in society.
You have a look at the state of affairs the place many individuals didn’t have a nationwide ID. They weren’t counted as a part of society. Most individuals don’t have financial institution accounts and are financially excluded. How do you take part? We requested ourselves: how will we make it doable for anyone in Ghana to have a checking account?
We launched cell cash interoperability. We made cell cash accounts and financial institution accounts interoperable.
Immediately in Ghana anyone with a nationwide ID card can open a checking account sitting at dwelling. They don’t need to go and fill a kind, they simply have to enter a USSD code [on a mobile phone], enter their Ghana Card quantity, their nationwide ID quantity – and that’s all: their checking account is open they usually can start to transact.
That actually helps lots of people, within the villages, within the rural areas, who wouldn’t usually have the ability to go and apply for a checking account. They’re intimidated even simply to enter banks.
We consider that digitalisation in all of the elements that we’re doing actually helps the poor. It helps effectivity of supply of companies. It offers a significant pillar for the nation. That is the place we’re going. We need to leverage know-how for financial progress with inclusion.
Throughout this administration, has it made issues extra environment friendly?
It actually has. For those who go and also you need to clear your items on the port, it was a really laborious course of; we’ve digitalised that course of. Even sitting at dwelling, you possibly can undergo the clearing course of. You don’t need to go down [to the port] to pay bribes to individuals. Even sitting overseas, you possibly can undergo and clear your container.
In case you are making an attempt to use for a driver’s licence, we’ve got digitalised the entire course of and this was at all times a spot the place you wanted center individuals to facilitate the method however now it’s world-class.
The service that you’re getting to acquire a driver’s licence in Ghana is even higher than within the UK or the US.
I’ve received all authorities companies on to 1 portal, the ghana.gov portal. You’ll be able to go there and have whichever service you’re searching for. Immediately, you possibly can pay your taxes on-line – it by no means was the case. By way of digitalisation we’ve got been in a position to widen the tax web.
Once we got here into workplace, solely 4% of the grownup inhabitants had tax identification numbers. Now we’ve got issued the Ghana Card, the nationwide ID, to everybody – and we got here up with the concept of associating that quantity to the tax identification quantity for everyone.
As soon as we did that, we went up from 4% of the grownup inhabitants with tax identification numbers to 85% of the grownup inhabitants with tax identification numbers. They will file their taxes on-line, on their cell phone, they usually pays on-line due to cell interoperability. Immediately, anyone who desires to purchase electrical energy doesn’t have to attend and go to the electrical energy workplace to purchase electrical energy, they will do it on their cell phone; in case your electrical energy runs out in the midst of the night time, you possibly can simply reload it.
Now we have began issuing the nationwide ID quantity to all newborns, so we will begin amassing information from start. That quantity will observe you throughout. The identical quantity that’s your nationwide ID quantity, it’s additionally your social safety quantity. Your nationwide well being quantity can be your tax and schooling quantity. Now we have linked all the info.
Wanting on the passport workplace, we’ve got digitalised the method. Consequently, the variety of passports which have been utilized for has elevated. Earlier than the digitalisation the passport workplace used to generate a income of 1m Ghana cedis ($89,000) a 12 months. Since digitalisation they’re producing 56m Ghana cedis ($4.9m) a 12 months.
We went to the electrical energy firm and digitalised their collections. Beforehand they have been typically amassing 450m Ghana cedis ($40m) a month. Now they’re doing 1.2bn a month ($106m), a 167% improve.
The entire digitalisation initiative is de facto serving to us cut back corruption, growing effectivity, growing inclusion. The targets are being met and we need to deepen the method.
While you first got here into authorities, schooling was on the coronary heart of your manifesto: free senior highschool, to enrol extra youngsters in schooling. However critics say it’s been a drain on public funds. The place are you together with your schooling programmes? Are you glad?
For President Akufo-Addo, and for our authorities, schooling was key by way of transformation of society. All of the analysis that we’ve got reveals that human capital is the defining issue for the transformation of nations. We thought that growing entry to schooling and the standard of schooling was the important thing for the transformation of Ghana.
We’re having too many youngsters dropping out due to the shortcoming of their dad and mom to pay the varsity charges for secondary schooling. We made the choice that we have been going to implement free senior highschool schooling to convey inclusion to lots of people who weren’t included. It’s a daring transfer and it’s not a cheap transfer – so we had to verify we budgeted for the free senior highschool schooling, costing roughly 1bn cedis ($88m) a 12 months. There was additionally the issue of lack of enough infrastructure for the scholars by way of school rooms.
There are two issues that I’ve been very impressed with about what has occurred in schooling, so far as the free senior highschool coverage is anxious. Primary, we’ve seen a 75% improve in enrolment during the last six years, from 800,000 college students to 1.4m college students. That’s the biggest improve we’ve seen since independence.
What can be very fascinating is that an increasing number of women have gone into faculty. There was plenty of gender disparity – now there’s gender parity between girls and boys in senior highschool.
The second factor that basically has impressed me about that is that the efficiency of the scholars within the West African Senior College Certificates exams has additionally exceeded our expectations. We have been frightened, as a result of usually while you improve entry there’s a drawback of declining efficiency – however what has occurred is that efficiency has moderately improved throughout the core six topics. We’ve gone up from a 41% cross fee to a 64% cross fee. That’s a significant improve. We’re heading in the right direction. It’s not low-cost: however we consider that down the street schooling pays off. We consider that, wanting on the nation, you want this funding in schooling for Ghanaians to take part absolutely within the international economic system.
Inform us concerning the subsequent instalment in your schooling programme, the one youngster one laptop computer programme…
Once we have been rising up, for me a minimum of, rising up within the northern a part of the nation at a time when issues have been very robust, even getting textbooks to learn was an issue. Immediately, we’ve got elevated availability of textbooks and of the libraries. We’ve nearly doubled the variety of public libraries within the nation. And right now there’s a lot info on the web for college kids. Your typical library in a college can’t include all the knowledge that you could get on the web.
While you have a look at the world going ahead, the form of issues which can be occurring – the significance of science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM) research; robotics; synthetic intelligence – that is the place the world is heading.
We consider that entry to laptops and entry to wi-fi within the colleges permits our kids to have entry to all of this data and to be aggressive with youngsters within the developed world.
It’s not a luxurious to me: when you concentrate on one laptop computer for each youngster in senior highschool, it’s really a necessity for us at this stage of our growth, in order that we aren’t left behind. The very first thing that we did was to guarantee that we had wi-fi in senior excessive colleges. Not solely did we do the senior excessive colleges, we did the universities of schooling, and we did the identical factor for the district schooling places of work, as a result of the lecturers and those that handle should additionally have the ability to be on-line. Throughout 13 public universities, we supplied wi-fi. It’s not simply the senior highschool – we’re wanting on the complete dedication throughout totally different ranges [of the education system].
Now we’re bringing within the laptops. The scholars could have entry to materials that they’d not usually have had. They’ll have entry to previous questions. We’ll [integrate] video content material. You could be in a [remote] village faculty, it is possible for you to to see how the perfect colleges are educating and the perfect lecturers [are teaching], their notes and all of that. Even lecturers can discover out what their colleagues are educating. College students can even see what’s being taught in a few of the greatest colleges within the nation, how these lectures are being delivered.
This initiative bridges the gaps between the much less well-off colleges and the a lot better-off colleges. All these colleges are publicly funded. We must always permit cross-fertilisation of concepts. Lectures needs to be made out there to everyone, if they’re the perfect within the nation. We’re doing this to offer our college students an enormous carry in being aggressive globally. Immediately in case you go to many developed nations, even kindergarten college students are utilizing laptops: that is the place the world is heading.
What can be vital while you have a look at it on this regard is the price range. We consider that we’re going to make financial savings by way of this.
How are educating strategies altering?
It’s vital that if you will convey this nation in the direction of an schooling system that’s prepared for the fourth industrial revolution, you can not keep the identical [methods of] educating. Academics are being educated in lots of areas and getting higher methods of educating. We’re placing an emphasis on robotics, and STEM. We’ve arrange ten mannequin STEM colleges. What can be very fascinating for me is that there’s [a desire] from the scholars to take part on this space – know-how, digital, STEM, robotics.
This angle has seen two excessive colleges win the world robotics competitors in America. They beat nations like Germany, just like the US, it was simply superb. One was a women’ faculty and one was a boys’ faculty they usually received the world robotics competitors… from Ghana; who would have thought?You give [kids] the chance and they’re going to lead the world in lots of of those areas.
What are the teachings learnt that you’d take into a brand new administration?
One of many first issues that I did as Vice-President was to arrange a supply unit in my workplace and that supply unit has been very key these final six years on ensuring that tasks are delivered. Many individuals are shocked how a lot we’ve got gotten performed however I consider very clearly that each one the digitalisation works that we’ve got performed, and different issues, are very a lot pushed by the supply unit that enables us to convey all of the ministries collectively, many alternative ministries, they usually drive that challenge implementation for the totally different tasks. The give attention to schooling is one which I consider we should always actually proceed to do as a result of the payoff is kind of excessive down the street.
What’s going to the important tenet of your marketing campaign be?
There are totally different areas. Digitalisation and leveraging know-how for inclusive financial progress could be one space.
We need to make Ghana the digital hub of Africa. The world proper now’s taking a look at techniques information, synthetic intelligence and all of that. We are able to use that to enhance agricultural productiveness, to enhance healthcare and to enhance schooling. These are for me the three large areas. For all of the issues about synthetic intelligence and information it is rather vital that we get the perfect out of that for Africa.
We have to go into predictive agriculture. Immediately in Ghana we’ve got drones delivering medicines and vaccines. We’re networking all of the hospitals in order that your data are centralised. Now we have launched Africa’s first nationwide scale e-pharmacy, in order that when you’ve got a prescription you possibly can go surfing and discover the closest pharmacy to you.
When you’ve got synthetic intelligence getting all this information, you possibly can have options to ailments which, given our personal DNA in Africa, could also be fairly totally different from different locations. We have to get healthcare outcomes that are appropriate for us, so we have to develop our personal analysis.
Meals safety is one other space I need to give attention to. I need to introduce what I name a golden age of the maximisation of the advantages of our pure assets: gold, lithium, and home beneficiation. I launched a brand new coverage just lately – gold for oil – wherein we’re leveraging the gold to pay for oil and never going searching for scarce {dollars} that we don’t have.
And there’s the vitality transition, with a give attention to renewables. And to unleash the personal sector, together with in infrastructure. The federal government can’t be doing every little thing. These are a few of the areas I need to actually contact on.
