Ghana’s digitalization revolution, a catalyst for economic development

Ghana’s digitalization revolution in the past four years has been rapid and orchestrated by the Vice President of Ghana, H.E. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

Globally, countries that have achieved advanced levels of digitization have realized significant benefits in their economies, their societies, and the functioning of their public sectors.

One of the critical lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic is the realization of the vital role of digitalization in driving and sustaining long-term economic growth.

In fact, a recent OECD report to the G7 on strengthening economic resilience against future crises states that emerging technologies, particularly digitalization, can boost resilience through prevention, absorption, and recovery capabilities. 

Digitalization refers to the facilitation of economic processes by leveraging digital technologies and digitized data.

Because most economic activities, especially e-commerce, are carried out using digital platforms, economies best prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic shock were those with robust digital infrastructure.

As a result, we have seen better economic resilience in developed countries such as Germany, China and the United States compared to developing countries.  

While most developing countries are still struggling in reverting their major macroeconomic variables to pre-pandemic shock levels, the story in Ghana has been relatively different and inspiring.

The recently published 2021 Article IV of the IMF states that policy interventions in Ghana have been critical to paving the way for a faster rebound of economic activity. Headline Inflation which spiked to double-digit levels due to food price pressures has fallen back to 8.5 per cent – since April 2021.