Ghana’s ICT sector remains a significant contributor to overall economic development. Valued at around $1bn in 2022, the sector has maintained its growth and is expected to expand to $5bn by 2030, despite the fiscal constraints and currency depreciation being experienced by the broader economy. With government support, a dynamic start-up ecosystem and growing digital infrastructure, Ghana is well positioned to maintain its trajectory of progress in the sector.
Structure & Oversight
The main ICT players include broadcast corporations, software developers, telecommunications companies, internet service providers and very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) data operators. The sector’s infrastructure base comprises undersea cable connectivity, licensed gateway operators, fixed-lined wired networks, private licensed VSAT systems, wireless mobile operators, public telephone systems, telecentres, dedicated transmission networks, public distribution networks such as cable, TV and DSL, nationwide internet backbone connectivity, and public access point and broadcasting systems.
The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD) is tasked with initiating and developing national policies aimed at achieving cost-effective ICT infrastructure and services to boost and promote economic competitiveness. The National Communications Authority (NCA), an agency under the MoCD, regulates telecommunications in Ghana, while the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) serves as the ICT policy-implementing arm of the MoCD.
In 2003, through the National ICT Policy and Plan Development Committee of the MoCD, Ghana formulated the ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy to usher the country into the digital age by deploying ICT throughout the economy. “The government’s digitalisation drive through online platforms and payment systems, among other public services, is expected to make tax compliance easier and tax collection better,” Amar Deep Hari, co-founder and executive chairman of IT solutions provider IPMC Ghana, told OBG. “This holds the potential for timely debt servicing and economic stability.”
In 2018 the MoCD launched Ghana’s Digital Agenda, which aims to establish mobile money interoperability, digitalise government services, create a biometric national identity registration, implement a digital property addressing system and institute paperless port operations, among other goals. The government also set up the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) to bridge the digital divide, and intends to establish a shared infrastructure company to help deploy 4G and 5G services. Through collaboration with network operators and private investors, the programme aims to reach 80% of Ghanaians.
Performance & Size
A thriving ICT sector serves as a significant catalyst for economic expansion. It has helped to increase job opportunities, particularly for youths, and has fuelled innovation, giving rise to a vibrant ecosystem of start-ups and entrepreneurs. ICT tools and systems have improved efficiency and production across various industries, while enhanced connectivity has significantly increased access to information and services. At the same time, the adoption of e-governance in the public sector has boosted the efficiency and transparency of many services.
The growth of the ICT sector has been attributed to several factors, including government support through policies and initiatives, stakeholder collaboration, increased access to technology, affordable mobile phones, low-cost telecoms services, entrepreneurship and innovation, and a supportive regulatory framework. Ghana has experienced the impact of ICT in health care, education, agriculture, tourism, finance, security and general service delivery since the implementation of the ICT4AD initiative, which has served as a digitalisation framework to guide each of the sectors.
According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the ICT sector expanded by 22.5% in 2020 and was one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy that year. Growth in value-added services in the ICT sector reached 28.9%, 32.6% and 17% in the third quarters of 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The slowdown in growth was a result of lockdowns due to Covid-19, which forced many residents to work and study remotely. Many people adopted technology, and video-conferencing became the norm, as meetings, conferences, workshops and other training programmes moved online, as did private schools and tertiary institutions (see Health & Education chapter). There was also an increase in digital adoption among Ghana’s sizeable and tech-savvy youth population, which accelerated the sector’s growth.
ICT contributes about 5% to the country’s GDP each year and is anticipated to increase its market value of $1bn in 2022 to $5bn by the end of 2030. Ghana received $1.4bn in foreign direct investment in 2022, with the services sector, which includes ICT, accounting for the bulk of the value, at $577.4m.
According to mobile sector research provider GSMA Intelligence, Ghana had 44.9m mobile connections at the beginning of 2022. In January 2022 mobile connections constituted 140% of the overall population. This figure saw a 6.2% further increase in 2022, as 2.6m new mobile connections were added.
In 2022 the NCA reported a 1.9% decline in mobile voice subscriptions, from 40.8m in the third quarter to 40m at year-end. Additionally, subscriptions fell by 1% from 40.4m at end-2021 to 40m at the close of 2022. The penetration rate at the end of 2022 was 126%, down from 129.1% in the third quarter. The fall in mobile voice subscriptions was a result of the SIM card re-registration exercise initiated by the NCA to remove unregistered SIM cards from circulation. Prepaid customers had 39.6m mobile voice subscriptions, or 98.9% of the market, while there were 430,000 postpaid subscriptions, or 1.1% of the market, at year’s end.
As of January 2023 there were 23m internet users in Ghana, with an internet penetration rate of 68.2%. The country had 6.6m social media users at that time, equivalent to 19% of the population. The World Bank estimates that 68% of the population uses smartphones to access the internet, compared to 6.3% for laptops and tablets, and 0.7% for desktop computers.
In 2022 mobile data subscriptions fell from 24.4m at the end of the third quarter to 22.8m at year-end, a 6.2% decline. In addition, subscriptions decreased by 2.4% between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2022, falling from 23.4m to 22.8m. The number of pre-paid mobile data subscriptions similarly moderated in 2022, from 24.2m at the end of the third quarter to 22.7m at the end of the year, accounting for 99.2% of all mobile data subscriptions.
Market Players
Ghana had five companies offering broadband wireless access (BWA): Blu Telecommunications, Broadband Home, Busy Ghana, Surfline and TeleSol. However, since early 2023 Busy Ghana and Surfline have both been out of service, with local media citing financial reasons for the disruption.
In 2022 BWA subscriptions fell by 12.3%, from 43,400 in the third quarter to 38,073 in the fourth quarter, for a penetration rate of 0.12%. This put subscriptions down 24.9% from 50,714 in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to a mid-2023 report published by the GIPC, Ghana has one of the fastest broadband speeds in Africa, at around 53.3 Mbps.
In March 2023 telco MTN Ghana began work on the 4000-sq-metre Ghana ICT Hub to enhance ICT capacity in health, agriculture and education by providing on-site and remote access delivery to support youth employment creation and skill development. The establishment of the Ghana ICT Hub is an implementation of MTN’s $25m commitment to support initiatives that facilitate and advance the country’s digital transformation agenda. Once fully completed, the Ghana ICT Hub aims to train more than 200,000 youth in ICT and digital skills and create in excess of 100,000 jobs within its first three years of operation.
In April 2022 the World Bank approved $200m in funding to assist the Ghanaian government in its efforts to expand broadband access to 6m people, improve the effectiveness and quality of selected digital public services, and strengthen the country’s digital innovation ecosystem in order to foster improved employment and new economic opportunities.
Ghana had four registered mobile operators as of late 2023: MTN, Vodafone, Glo Ghana and AT, the last of which was formerly known as AirtelTigo. According to the NCA, at the end of 2022 MTN held 66.5% market share with 26.6m subscriptions. Vodafone followed with 18.8% market share and 7.5m subscriptions. AT, meanwhile, ended the year with a market share of 14% and a subscription base of 5.6m. Glo followed with a market share of 0.77% and 309,000 subscriptions.
Digital Infrastructure
The estimated worth of digital infrastructure in Ghana, which includes fibre-optic cables and data centres, is $400m. Ghana had around 64.1% 4G network coverage in 2023, with an average connection speed of 12.1 Kbps. The country’s 3G network coverage is estimated at 93.1%. In 2023 total consumer spending on ICT equipment is expected to reach $181.9m, with exports of ICT services anticipated to hit $3.49 per capita.
Cloud Services
Ghana’s cloud infrastructure has enormous growth potential and is valued at $15m. The Ghanaian government, through the MoCD, has implemented some laws and advocated for policies that facilitate and support the establishment of different service levels for the transmission and storage of cloud data, depending on the nature of the transmitted data. The ICT sector is progressively advancing, enabling its citizens, businesses, the broader economy and many communities to benefit from cloud computing applications and innovations, thereby enhancing the country’s competitiveness (see analysis).
Cybersecurity
The estimated market value of the cybersecurity subsector is $30m. Ghana’s civilian-led, inclusive approach to cybersecurity has allowed the country to develop incident response capabilities rapidly. These capabilities are crucial in helping the government, the private sector and civilian institutions identify malicious cyberthreats and prepare and recover from attacks. The country’s approach to cybersecurity is a notable example of how to increase cyber-capabilities while maintaining public’s safety.
Ghana’s incident response architecture dates to 2014, with the establishment of the Ghana National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GH) under the authority of the MoCD. CERT-GH serves as the focal point for cybersecurity incident response. In July 2022 the MoCD inaugurated a Joint Cybersecurity Committee to implement relevant cybersecurity measures.
Digital Finance
Ghana’s financial landscape is being transformed by financial technology (fintech). Mobile money technology is one of the main drivers of the digital economy, with MTN Mobile Money, Vodafone Cash and ATM oney gaining significant adoption, enabling underserved and underbanked communities to access services (see Financial Services chapter).
Fintech dominated fundraising in 2021, accounting for $10.1m and 51.4% of total funding and 44.4% of funded start-ups. This trend extended into 2022, with fintech constituting 52.2% of funded start-ups and a 64.7% contribution of $96.1m to the total. Some of Ghana’s largest funding rounds in 2022 were facilitated by fintechs, with Dash securing $32.8m in funding, Fido Credit $30m, Float $17m and Zeepay $10m.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) reported that in 2021, there were 40.9m registered mobile money accounts and 17.5m active accounts. According to market researcher IMARC Group, Ghana’s mobile money market was worth $121.8bn in 2022, and projected to reach $590.7bn by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 29.6% in 2023-28. The number of transactions increased by 48.6%, from 2.9bn in 2020 to 4.3bn a year later, with total transaction value up from GHS571.8bn ($51.9bn) to GHS978.3bn ($88.8bn). According to the BoG, the overall value of mobile money transactions in the first quarter of 2023 was GHS411.5bn ($37.4bn).
E-Government
Since 2012 the government has provided strong support for e-government services, launching projects such as e-justice, court computerisation and e-services from 10 government agencies. The Ghana.gov portal can be used to apply for passports, file taxes and register businesses, among other procedures. E-government initiatives have improved the public administration’s efficiency and transparency, streamlining processes and reducing bureaucracy.
Outlook
Ghana will continue to invest in its ICT infrastructure to meet rising demand for digital services across numerous sectors of the economy. This includes the deployment of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, broadband networks and data centres. As one of the fastest-growing ICT subsegments, digital financial services are poised to benefit from the ongoing financial inclusion drive, as well as the establishment of tech and innovation centres, which will facilitate the development of a more supportive ecosystem for tech start-ups and entrepreneurs. With increased adoption, e-commerce activity is anticipated to expand substantially, harnessing the entrepreneurial drive of an energised, tech-savvy and sizeable youth population.
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