The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia addressed the Ghanaian community in the Bay area of San Francisco, United States of America (USA), as part of a five-day working visit to the technology hub of Silicon Valley, California, USA.
The leadership of the NPP-USA, Pennsylvania Chapter, comprising John Bennin, Chairman, Dennis Acquah and Paul Adu, Vice Chairmen, Ignatius Arthur, Treasurer, Josephine Agyekum-Wallace, Organizer, Patricia Kumah, Women’s Organizer, and Bismark Ohene Ntow, Public Relations Officer, decided on the Chapter’s Secretary, Emmanuel Tabiri, to represent them (Pennsylvania Chapter) at the meeting.
In his report, the Secretary of the Chapter, Emmanuel Tabiri, stated his delight at meeting the Vice President, the high-level government team and the leadership of 15 Ghanaian ICT firms that accompanied the Vice President.
In reporting to the NPP-USA Pennsylvania Chapter executives, he said, inter alia, how the meeting afforded him the opportunity to interact with the NPP fraternity and the general Ghanaian populace, to exchange ideas, to fully discover and familiarize with the pressing issues and challenges back in the motherland, which he believed, would enable the tailoring of Ghanaian solutions to Ghanaian challenges, to help aid the NPP government in its policies.
Mr. Emmanuel Tabiri, animated how the Vice President engaged the gathering in a session of questions and answers, and briefed them on happenings back home. Great questions were asked and answered, interspersed with thought-provoking, laudable, attainable contributions from concerned citizens at the meeting. He (Vice President) also held discussions with the Valley’s thought and technology leaders in hope of exploring the possibilities of developing partnerships and decisions to enhance the digitization of the Ghanaian economy to move Ghana Beyond Aid.
The Chapter Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Tabiri agreed with the government’s conviction that the application of technology is an essential component of “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda, which is founded on the firm belief that Ghana cannot depend and hinge on only natural resources to achieve a sustained economic development. He said, the Dr. Bawumia belabored his firm belief that a Ghana beyond aid will base primarily and be attained on the ideas and innovation of her citizens.
Dr. Bawumia said Ghana was on a recovery path in all areas after a year of implementation of prudent and achievable policies by the Nana Akuffo-Addo government, he continued.
The fundamental pillar of this vision, Dr. Bawumia stressed, was to take advantage of Information Communication Technology and the vast brain power Ghanaians have been endowed with, to make a positive difference in the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian.
“We believe it is time we did things differently. Our government is ready to try new ideas and innovations that will impact directly, every Ghanaian, everywhere on the planet.”
“That is why we have come here, where technology and innovation lead the way.”
“We are building a new, efficient and working Ghana. The world is continually changing, and this evolution is led by cutting-edge technology. We are also aware there are many talented young men and women in the ICT sphere, and government is looking at ways to make innovating and the realization of promising ideas easier.”
Dr. Bawumia disclosed that government was embarking on ambitious digitization drives geared towards leveraging the use of technology for ongoing projects like the National Identification Card, National Digital Property Addressing System, digitization of land records agenda and efforts aimed at encouraging financial inclusion by interoperability in the payment systems. He showed how they could contribute towards these innovations by making their skills and expertise available to their compatriots back home.
He entreated Ghanaians all over to actively support the Akuffo-Addo government in taking Ghana to the next stage of her development, to help speed up the Akuffo-Addo government’s rate of development.
The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, discussed how due to the implementation of prudent and sustained policies by the Akuffo-Addo government, the country has been recording remarkable economic growth, albeit inheriting a poor and failing economy, fulfilling a number of major promises made to the people of Ghana, before and during the elections. He detailed a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 8.5%, from an inherited 3.7%, in 2017, which he furthered was the fastest growth rate in the world.
He said the Akuffo-Addo administration was working tirelessly to achieve an efficient working Ghana and entreated tech-savvy Ghanaians everywhere to participate in achieving Ghanaian solutions to Ghanaian challenges.
“Ghana needs your skills to get to the next stage, to go beyond aid, and I am confident that we can depend on you. Together we can build a prosperous, ICT-led Ghana.”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was scheduled to meet with Corporate Executives of digital technology organizations like Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook and Alphabet, he continued.
The ICT leaders with the Vice President included representatives from GHIPSS, Hubtel, BlueSpace Africa, DreamOval, Rancard Solutions, Nsano, ExpressPay, IBM, Bsystems, IT Consortium, Trotro Tractor, General Electric, Callens Solution, Edel Technology Consult and the SoftTribe.
The government team were the Deputy Minister of Communications and Minister of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya East, George Nenyi Andah, Mohammad Tijanni Habibu, Deputy Foreign Minister, Alex Tetteh Djornobuah, Minister of Parliament (MP) for Sefwi Akontonbra and member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, and Halidu Ali Maiga, Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee.
The Chapter Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Tabiri, during interactions with the government team, the leaders of the 15 Ghanaian ICT firms, and executives of other NPP-USA Chapters, expressed the honor it would be for The NPP-USA, Pennsylvania Chapter, to have them visit the East-Coast of the USA, and better yet, Pennsylvania.
With him are some executives of NPP-USA
