Plan for National Information and Communications Infrastructure of Ghana 2000-2005 - Ghana

Ministry of Communications - Ghana
Economic Commission For Africa
Forum for the Development of Africa
"Elaborated with the Financial Assistance of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) - Canada"

Accra, Ghana. December 2000

Source: Economic Commission for Africa

1. Introduction
   1. Background
   2. Motivation
   3. Justification
   4. Objectives
2. Methodology
   1. Outline of Stages of Study
   2. Structure of Document
3. Country Baseline Data
   1. Politics & Administration
   2. Economy
4. National Economic and Social Development Plan
   1. Priority Sectors
   2. Sector Policies
5. Current Information and Communication Technology Landscape
   1. Major National Stakeholders
   2. Needs and Aspirations
   3. Communication Network Providers
   4. Cellular Phone Service Providers
   5. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) And Internet Connectivity
   6. Web Hosting
   7. Internet Hosting and Use Statistics
   8. Data Service Providers
   9. Paging Service Providers
   10. Radio and TV Services
   11. Information Technology Services
   12. ICT Human Resource Development (Training)
6. National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Plan
   1. Strategic Objectives and Priorities
   2. Infrastructure Development
   3. Mass Computer Literacy Drive
   4. African ICT Expertise Database
   5. Electronic Births and Deaths Registry
   6. Automatic Voter Registration System
   7. Health Information System (+ Electronic Health Card)
   8. Semiconductor Design Centres
   9. Public Information Clearing House
   10. E-Commerce for Non-Traditional Exports
   11. Electronic Financial Clearing House
   12. E-Governance
   13. Folk Music Database
   14. District TeleCentres
   15. Cyber Krom
   16. Security Networks
   17. Companies Registration
   18. Profile of Ghana NICI Project Team
   19. NICI ListServe and Website

Introduction

Over the years, rapid technological developments in the world have given rise to a number of revolutions. The Agricultural Revolution that enabled the developed world to feed themselves and to lift their citizenry from the abyss of poverty and starvation, the Industrial Revolution that accelerated the pace of industrial development by replacing horsepower and manpower with that of the machine, and the Nuclear revolution that catapulted man from solid earth to weightless orbits, thus heralding the advent of Satellite Technology and Services. As the 20th Century draws to a close the Industrial Revolution has reached its zenith and we are now at the threshold of another revolution, the Information Revolution.

The information revolution brings in its wake a society that will be dominated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This era, dubbed the Information Age, is advancing rapidly in the developed world and will play a vital and critical role in determining which countries will survive economically and which will remain economically isolated. The key to this revolution is the technology that allows data, documents, still and moving images and sound to be stored digitally, and to be accessed instantly, regardless of where they are physically stored. This phenomenon is the direct result of the growth of the global data communication networks, the Internet being the best-known example. Therefore countries that wish to ride on the information revolution to enhance the socio-economic development process of their countries need to put in place a number of local infrastructure and resources:

• a modern telecommunication infrastructure (preferably based on digital technology) with international connections of sufficient bandwidth (throughput capacity);
• an adequate Tele-density (i.e. the number of telephone lines per 100 inhabitants);
• reliable domestic electricity supplies and well developed national technology infrastructures;
• an adequate level of computer literacy (which will necessarily involve improved levels of education and training);
• an adequate computer density (i.e. number of personal computers per 100 inhabitants);
• sufficient interest on the part of local and international private sector organisations to invest in developing technology infrastructures and in setting up communication and information services; and
• Sufficient public interest in the services offered by these private sector providers, combined with a willingness to change traditional ways of life.1

In many developing countries these conditions are either non-existent or if they exist, the infrastructure are often dilapidated or are concentrated in the more affluent urban areas, while inhabitants of rural areas have little or no access to them.

In line with it's mission to achieve a middle-income status by the year 2020, and in recognition of the role ICT will play in this endeavour, Ghana together with other African countries adopted (by resolution 812 XXXI) the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). The basic objective of AISI is "to end Africa's information and information technology gap by bringing it into the Information Age" However, intervention strategies that place emphasis on developing electronic communications infrastructure and applications that can be used to improve the range and the access to basic social services such as health, education, public information and the environment, particularly by the underprivileged in society are yet to be put in place. It is in this context that this proposal is being made to UNECA through the African Development Forum (ADF).

The ADF is an initiative led by the ECA to establish an African-driven development agenda that produces a consensus among major partners and that leads to specific programmes for country implementation.

The motivation for this plan can best be summarised by the remarks of two illustrious sons of Africa, who are worth quoting here:

"Eliminating the distinction between information rich and information poor countries is critical to eliminating other inequalities between the North and South"
President Nelson Mandela - G7 Conference on Information Society, 1996

"We paid the price of not taking part in the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth century because we did not have the opportunity to see what was taking place in Europe. Now we see that information and communication technology has become an indispensable tool. This time, we should not miss out on this technological revolution"
Professor F.K.A. Allotey, a distinguished Ghanaian scholar

Another motivating factor is the need to emphasise the social context of technological change. It is generally acknowledged that technology in itself is not a determinant of change, it is only a facilitator. As with any other technology, it is the social context within which these new technologies are introduced, and more importantly implemented, that determines their usage and impact.

During the last five years, the economies of many African countries have improved; however, this improvement remains fragile. There is therefore the need to deepen and sustain it, with emphasis on policy reforms and good governance, and the need to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable economic and social development, taking into account the intensely competitive global environment which requires a shift in planning and delivery of development to larger regional units as well as economic co-operation and trade between African economies.

The main objective of this plan was to assess the level of ICT in Ghana, and present to key stake holders in Ghana and ECA/ADF, proposals and draft action programmes that will serve as a basis for discussion at national and ADF fora at which shared goals and priorities will be formulated and the environment that will enable African countries to implement these programmes will be defined.

Specifically, the plan aims at:

• Assessing the level of information and communication infrastructure in Ghana,
• Appraising Ghana's information and communication policy,
• Identifying projects with links to other project databases such AI-AIMS and Mike Jensen's project databases,
• Determining the level of ICT content development,
• Identifying links to information and communication material at country level,
• Identifying key ICT indicators,
• Determining Ghana's NICI strategic objectives and
• Proposing priority actions.

The Ghana NICI plan attempts to steer development of ICT in Ghana to attain self-sufficiency in a number of key areas in a period of 5 years.

Although the strategic objective or broad implementation of the project within the plan covers enough aspects, We have identified 5 main strategic objectives of the NICI plan, which are enumerated below.

• Infrastructure: From analysis of existing infrastructure, Ghana would stand to benefit from enhanced and much more better access to infrastructure in order to deliver more bandwidth and let the average Ghanaian have access to equipment at affordable cost. Without widespread delivery of infrastructure it would not be possible to achieve a lot of the long-term goals of ICT development.
• Educational Programs: ICT educational programs should be introduced at all levels. The key to developing in the ICT space is to have very well educated staff, it is important to create healthy knowledge workers. In Ghana Academic institutions have not been well identified to lead in areas of ICT so they cannot serve as a reference point for the new emerging ICT technologies. It is important that some special and organised growth channels be identified to bring up the knowledge levels of Ghanaians.
• Human Resource Management: Human resource management is very important for the development of countries. It is important to know where all the expertise and technical resources in a particular field are located so they can be mobilised easily.
• Flagship Projects: Based on the introduction of all these projects its important to have flagship projects that will use all these new infrastructures and new expertise to enhance and develop new areas of projects. With the introduction of these it will be much easier for individuals who are now newly trained to better identify projects that will be relevant to the development of ICT in Ghana.
• Communication With Stakeholders: As the people become more sophisticated it would be important to put projects in place to allow them to be able to communicate with the stakeholders. This includes projects like telecenters and the public information-clearing house.

The relatively little knowledge about the NICI landscape in the formal and informal sector of Ghana arises from the fact there is little or no such data. Several African countries have not yet cultivated the habit of keeping data on key ICT indicators.

The study employed two methods for gathering the needed information: field research and desk research. We first appraised the various definitions of Information and Communication Infrastructure/Technology in order to arrive at those definitions that will lend support for our analysis. Based on agreed conceptual definitions of ICT indicators we determined some metrics for measuring the level of deployment and usage of ICT that facilitated data capture. This was followed by research and data collection on the policy, deployment, use, and state of ICT in the various sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

Through brain storming and scenario modeling with the key stakeholders, focusing on the role of ICT in achieving the Vision 2020 objectives, we developed project ideas. These project ideas together with the results of the survey were presented to a national conference for ratification.

The following is the broad plan of the study.

• Literature Review
• Design of Study
• Data Collection, Construction of ICT indicator matrix
• Data Analysis
• Determination of Priority Actions
• Writing of Report
• Evaluation of Report at NICI Forum
• Formulation of Project

This document is structured as follows:

• Section one provides background information on the events that led to the initiation of this project.
• Section two provides information on Ghana's economic and demographic indicators.
• Section three dwells on current and planned ICT policies of the various sectors of the economy of Ghana while section four looks at Ghana's ICT landscape.

Ghana is an English speaking country located in West Africa. It covers a land area of 238,537 square kilometres and shares boundaries with the Atlantic Ocean to the south and three (3) countries; Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east and Cote d'Ivoire in the west.

Ghana's population is currently estimated at 18.9 million, with a growth rate of 2.90 and a population density of 73 people per sq. km. With regard to age distribution, 44.1 percent of the population range between 0 and 14 years, 51.3 percent for age 15 years to 64 years and 4.7 percent for 60 years and above. About 60 percent of this live in rural communities. According to the 1960 census, the population consists of 17 major ethnic groups. The largest group, the Akans, constitute about 44 percent of the population, followed by the Dagombas in the northern part of Ghana who form 16 percent of the population while the Ewes in the east make up 13 percent and the Guans constitute 8 percent. Other smaller groups that are dispersed around the country account for the rest.

Politics & Administration

Ghana used to be a British colony called the Gold Coast. It gained independence in March 1957. The country is divided into 10 (ten) administrative regions with Accra as its administrative capital. It runs a parliamentary system of government with a President and a Vice President. There are 6 (six) political parties. The present government, constituted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was democratically elected in 1992.

Ghana is well endowed with natural resources such as good agricultural land, forests (in the Southwest), and mineral deposits such as gold, diamond, manganese and bauxite. Gold, timber and cocoa are the major export commodities. Ghana is the second largest gold producer in Africa. On the other hand, major imports into the country are mainly manufactured goods from Europe, North America, and the Far East.

Out of Ghana's total land area of 23.8 million hectares, 13.6 million (57.1 percent) constitute agricultural land area. By 1994 estimates, only about 10,500 hectares are irrigated. The domestic economy revolves around subsistence agriculture. The sector is considered to be the mainstay of Ghana's social and economic development, employing close to 65 percent of the labour force and is the main source of income for a vast majority of the population. Agriculture accounts for over 40 percent of GDP, contributes about 40 percent of export earnings and provides over 90 per cent of food needs of the country. The main food crops are cassava, maize, plantain, yam, cocoyam, rice, guinea corn, millet, cowpeas and sorghum. It is also an important source of raw materials for local manufacturing industries.

Ghana embarked on an Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in 1983 with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other bilateral donors. The programme was aimed at reversing a long period of serious economic decline characterised by poor financial management, high inflation, and a large and bloated government sector. The transformation of the economy from one that is state controlled to a liberalised type created a wide range of opportunities and challenges. The resulting liberalised trade and payments system, for example, enabled entrepreneurs to transact international trade without going through the hitherto cumbersome procedure of obtaining an import license. Similarly, the end of exchange controls and the adoption of a flexible exchange rate system provided a strong incentive for private entrepreneurs to access foreign exchange to import some of their inputs from abroad. In addition, the establishment of the Ghana Stock Exchange also enabled private enterprises to access cheap and longer term funding to expand their business operations.

With these measures and others, the rate of inflation was lowered from 142 percent in 1983 to 10 percent in 1991. Real GDP growth rate improved dramatically from 4.57 percent in 1983 to 5.3 percent in 1993 before tapering off slightly to 4.6 percent in 1998. Consequently, real per capita GDP has increased from ¢470 million in 1989 to ¢501 million in 1993. Other improvements include major rehabilitation in the country's economic and social infrastructure to acceptable levels.

Despite Ghana's good record at economic recovery; the pace of economic activity has been slowed lately. The unpredictability of inflation constitutes the one single source responsible for dampening private sector savings and investment. From a low of 10.3 percent in 1991, the end of period inflation rate jumped to 70.8 percent in 1995. Since 1993-94, however, the authorities have managed to rejuvenate the economy by instituting several structural and financial measures. There has been massive privatization of some state owned enterprises in an effort to downsize the operations of government and enable the private sector to contribute to the growth of the economy.

In this effort, the Government has divested itself of 212 state owned enterprises, including some banks. Even though this has resulted in the loss of many jobs, the financial health of the affected institutions have been greatly enhanced and the state has managed to save huge sums of money which would have been paid out as subvention to these enterprises.

The current national development plan is the Ghana - Vision 2020 prepared by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and presented to Parliament in January 1995. It is a 25 years effort, which contain programmes and policies that will enable Ghana to become a middle-income country by the year 2020. It comes in two phases: the medium term (1996-2000), and the long term. The programme is human centred, comprehensive and based on the co-ordinated endeavours of government agencies and the private sector. It is also multi dimensional in that it touches on all facets of Ghanaian life such as on human, rural and urban development and on economic growth and development as well as creating what has come to be called the "enabling environment" for public and private participation in development.

The medium term, which is of five-year duration, is to consolidate the gains achieved so far through the Economic Recovery Programme, and then lay a solid foundation for an accelerated development and growth in the next two decades. The medium term objectives are poverty reduction, enhancement of human resources, increasing employment and leisure opportunities and strengthening social infrastructure and services.

The long-term objectives have been derived from the basic principles that the aim of development is the "satisfaction of human needs and the improvement and realisation of the potential of all members of society" as stated in the Constitution.

Thus, the broad objectives of this programme are:

• To create an open and liberal market economy, founded on competition, initiative and creativity,
• To transform the country's economy by the target year 2000, from its present low-income status to that of a middle-income country of the ranks of the so-called Newly Industrialised Countries,
• To employ science and technology to derive maximum productivity from the use of all our human and natural resources,
• To optimise the rate of economic and social development, with due regard to the protection of the environment and to equity in the distribution of the benefits of development,
• To reduce the population growth rate by one percent and increase the national income growth by at least 8 percent per annum,
• To eventually make Ghana a country in which the people will have, among other things, a long, healthy and productive life with access to an enlarged range of choices of employment, shelter and leisure.

These aims will be achieved by creating a robust, diversified and commercially-based agricultural sector with strong links to an efficient, technologically-progressive and market-oriented industrial sector, both of which sectors pay due regard to the maintenance of a sound and sustainable environment as well as to the generation of employment opportunities, including self-employment.

The priority sectors highlighted in the programme are Education, Health, Agriculture, Environment, Science and Technology, Communication, Roads and Transport and Local Government.

Education

The programme requires the Education sector to produce a functionally literate and productive population. Thus, the educational system and its products should be responsive to changing industrial demands and socio-cultural conditions.

The major objectives of the Ministry therefore are:

• to produce a vibrant and active citizenry able to cope with modern trends in science and technology so as to enhance the productivity and earning power of the labour force,
• to increase the literacy rate of the population to such a level as would generate a tolerant political culture conducive to the sustenance of peace and democracy
• in the long term, to provide relevant education to all Ghanaians irrespective of gender, ethnic, religious and political affiliations.

The sector intends to realize these objectives as follows:

• providing basic education for all through the FCUBE programme,
• education and training for skill development with emphasis on science, technology and creativity,
• improve access to science and technology education and facilities in the educational system
• make Internet accessible and affordable in the schools
• make higher education accessible to many more Ghanaians through distance and
• continuous education programs, for the development of middle and top level manpower requirements,
• improve operations and facilities of functionally literate and self-reliance programs to ensure that all citizens are functionally literate and self-reliant.
• focus on methods and technologies of improving the quality of teaching and learning,
• improve management efficiency by introducing management information systems and Internet technologies into the education sector.
• Finally, all efforts would be made to decentralize and sustain management.

Objectives

In the Health sector, the programme seeks to address five main systemic challenges it faces. These are:

• Limited access to services
• Inadequate service quality
• Inefficiency and waste in the sector
• Poor collaboration between the private and public health sectors, between the health sector and local communities and between the health sector and other sectors of the economy
• Inadequate funding of health services and inefficient resource allocation

The main areas of action for the Ministry therefore are,

• Expanding and improving services and facilities including improvement in the health infrastructure, availability of drugs, equipment and medical supplies
• Tackling the severe human resource constraint
• Maximising the output of the pre-service training programme
• Strengthening the in-service training programme
• Institutionalising creative schemes to deploy the limited staff to where they are most needed
• Exploring other strategies for resource mobilisation mainly through health insurance and other prepayment schemes particularly suitable for rural populations and the informal sector and identifying mechanisms for protecting the poor
• Exploring strategies for ensuring rapid increase in coverage and improvement in quality and in tackling emerging diseases such as HIV-AIDS.

The Agricultural sector is the most dominant in the Ghanaian economy in terms of its share of GDP, employment and foreign exchange earnings. In 1997, it employed 70 percent of the labour force, contributed 47 percent to GDP and accounted for 57 percent of foreign exchange earnings. It is also an important source of raw materials for manufacturing.

The sector is made up of five sub-sectors: crops (other than cocoa), cocoa, livestock, fisheries and forestry. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is responsible for the management of three sub-sectors (crops, livestock and fisheries) only. These together account for 75 percent of total agricultural GDP.

The main objectives of this sector are:

• To integrate agriculture and industry,
• Provide adequate financial services and reduce the cost of capital
• Provide adequate access to appropriate technology.
• Improve the infrastructure in the rural areas and
• Improve access to regional and international markets.

In addition to these, the sector faces a few challenges among which are

• achieving and sustaining food security at the household and national levels
• contributing to poverty reduction
• increasing and sustaining agricultural growth rate at 6 percent per annum to support the attainment of the objectives of the Ghana-Vision 2020
• increasing access to medium and long tem capital at affordable and sustainable interest rates with emphasis on poor farmers and
• Increasing merchandise exports particularly non-traditional exports.

The Ministry's response to these objectives and challenges is the formulation of the Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Development Strategy. (AAGDS) This is designed to increase the sector's average annual growth rate from the current 4 percent to 6 percent by the year 2020 in order to achieve rapid, sustainable and equitable growth. The policies and programmes designed to achieve the objectives of this strategy are:

• Promotion of selected products through improved access to markets
• Development and improved access to technology for sustainable natural resource management
• Improved access to agricultural financial services
• Improved rural infrastructure
• Enhanced human resource and institutional capacity

The main vehicle for the implementation of the AAGDS is the Agricultural Services Sub-Sector Investment Programme (AgSSIP). The purpose of AgSSIP is to help reduce poverty and improve food security by providing essential services and securing an enabling environment for sustainable and equitable growth.

On Environment, the land resource degradation and loss of bio-diversity resulting from inappropriate farming practices and unsustainable harvesting levels are of great concern. The current logging rate in the high forest is unsustainable and game poaching in the off reserves and forest is widespread. Consequently, several timber species are under severe threat of commercial extinction, while the animal population is perceived to be at risk.

The strategies of the Government to address these challenges in natural resource management are embodied in the Forest and Wildlife Policy, 1994 and the Forestry Development Master Plan, 1996-2000. The aims are to ensure a sustained and adequate supply of forest and wildlife products, prevent further environmental degradation due to forest depletion and inappropriate farming practices and finally, to stimulate community involvement in the management of the resources and enhance the economic well being of rural people.

The National Environment Action Plan (1991), the Forest Protection Strategy (1995) and the National Biodiversity Strategy (1998) all seek to identify pervasive environmental and natural resources constraints militating against sustainable resources utilisation and rational conservation and define activities to mitigate the constraints. They also intend to safeguard genetic diversity and diversity of indigenous species through an ecosystem approach to management with the high forest zone. Another objective is to improve the knowledge of the distribution and status of rare, threatened and endemic species through targeted surveys and finally, to enhance the protection of critical areas for migratory species through improved monitoring and habitat management.

On Science and Technology, Vision 2020 recognises the strategic role that science and technology will play in the realisation of its objectives. Specifically, it recognises that in this modern era, it is technology, which drives productivity, makes possible private initiative and creativity, and bestows competitive advantage to the production of goods and services in an open and liberal economy. Consequently, Ghana's Vision 2020 is founded on an adequate science and technology base in spear-heading development in agriculture, industry, health, education, housing, transport and communications against the background of environmental sustainability.

The primary aim of the national science and technology policy of Ghana is to support national socio-economic development goals through the perpetuation of a science and technology culture at all levels of society.

The Roads and Transport network is a national asset as it is the main arteries for socio-economic development. In line with the overall national economic objective to make Ghana a middle income country by the year 2020, the vision in this sector is to improve the flow of goods and people in the country and make Ghana the transportation hub of West Africa. The Ministry's mission statement is therefore to ensure the provision of integrated, well managed and sustainable transport infrastructure and services to meet national and international standards through:

• The formulating and implementation of policies that are responsive to the changing transportation needs of the nation
• Promoting private sector participation
• Developing, implementing, monitoring and regulating standards

• Carry out strategic investment in transport infrastructure so as to establish safe, reliable, efficient and affordable services for all transport users in the country.

Among the many problems and challenges the sector faces are the need for effective reporting and management information systems in the roads sector, and clearance of the maintenance backlog in the road network and improvement of capacity to sustain maintenance. Another challenge is the development of institutional capacity to implement the sector wide system of lending more effectively.

With regards to aviation, there is the need for the development of domestic airports and the lack of professional managerial capability to properly develop and manage private airlines. On maritime transport, there is the need for an improvement of Lake Transport infrastructure and ferries to ensure all year round operations and safety. Finally, the sector needs to encourage private sector participation in rail transport system through concessioning.

As a strategy to address these problems, a comprehensive study will be conducted in 2000 to develop long term plans for the integration of the transport modes to realise our aim of complimenting the various modes. Terms of reference will be developed in consultations with stakeholders to examine the institutional requirements for the management of an integrated transport system. Similarly, in order to fully assess the current institutional capacity of the sector and the needed training required to achieve its set objectives, an Organisational Development and in Country Training will come on stream in 2000. This programme will enable the Ministry to identify weaknesses in its institutions and the training needs or institutional arrangement for strengthening. Also, to encourage more private participation in the management and operation of transport services through mechanisms such as contracting, franchising and concessioning through " Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) schemes.

On aviation, strategies to be implemented include the operationalisation of the liberalised skies policy through the adoption of the new Bilateral Air Services Agreement. This will encourage more international and regional airlines to feed and connect through Accra by way of alliances, code sharing and other commercial arrangement with other international carriers operating into and from Kotoka International Airport. During the programme, the aviation infrastructure will also receive a boost.

As regards maritime, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority will be restructured to become a landlord port. Also the ports infrastructural programme will aim at increasing the ports capacity by the construction of additional quays and undertaking limited dredging of the ports to meet the requirements of the larger modern container vessels.

The Ministry of Communications was created in 1997 to facilitate the strategic development and application of the best practices and use of the various communications resources - human, material and technological - for effective communications throughout the country.

The Ministry (acting on behalf of the Government of Ghana) has since then embarked on a process aimed at formulating a workable national communications policy for Ghana. Accordingly, a conference on the Ghana National Policy on Communications was held on October 7-9, 1998 at the Accra International Conference Centre, as a primary forum to share and obtain a deeper understanding of cognitive, social, and practical issues underlying effective communications.

Over the years, the Government of Ghana has established specific institutions for the development of scientific and technological capabilities, research and development, and the provision of essential services. Currently, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, the Universities of Ghana and other agencies carry out research and services activities in the country in the areas of science and technology. Five Sectoral Co-ordinating Committees have been established within the CSIR to provide a comprehensive overview of the science and technology sector as well as implement research programmes among all science and technology institutions in the country. These Committees are:

• Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
• Health and Medicine,
• Industry and Natural Sciences
• Environment and
• Social Science

As can be seen, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) aspect of the CSIR terms of reference is very conspicuous by its absence in the above list.

Ghana's ICT landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation during the past couple of years. A number of significant innovations have taken place in the communications sector. First was the introduction of cellular phones, then the pagers, FM radios and cable TV and finally the Internet. These new dimensions to telecommunication services have evoked a number of institutional and regulatory activities in Ghana, namely:

• The separation of Posts and Telecommunication (P&T) into different corporations
• Separation of Regulatory Responsibilities from Operational functions
• Diversification of Sources of Telecommunication Services
• Creation of a separate Ministry of Communication

Ghana deregulated the telecommunications sector in 1994 when the government announced a five year comprehensive restructuring of the industry, known as the "Accelerated Development Program 1994-2000 (ADP 2000) ". This programme aims at increasing the density of telephone services in the country, allowing private participation in some sectors of the industry, and permitting other network operators to have the same rights and privileges as Ghana Telecommunications Limited. This is to introduce competition at all operational levels of the telecommunications market place. The main policy objectives of the program were formulated with the assistance of the World Bank, consultants and other stakeholders, and aim at:

• Achieving a density between 1.5 and 2.5 lines per 100 people;
• Improving public access in rural and urban areas, through the provision of payphone facilities (public and private);
• Expanding the coverage of mobile services;
• promoting Ghanaian ownership and control of telecommunications companies;
• Retaining an overall public regulatory control of the sector through the creation of a single agency: the National Communications Authority (NCA).

The ADP has adopted the following strategies to achieve the above stated policy objectives:

• the authorisation of two national network operators: Ghana Telecom and a new independent operator;
• support of new financing arrangements which promote investment in new telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country; and
• Privatisation of Ghana Telecom through the sale of a strategic stake to an international operating company combined with measures to broaden share ownership in Ghana.

The major national stakeholders in the information and communication sector are:

• Government - Ministries and Agencies
• NCA
• COSGA
• ISOC Ghana ( Internet Society Ghana)
• Academic and Research
• Media
• Telecommunication Service Providers
• Internet Service Providers
• Data Network Providers

The National Communications Authority (NCA) was established by Parliamentary Act 1996 as a central regulatory body to create transparent mechanisms for the regulation of the telecommunications sector and to promote a stable operating environment for all participants, while promoting fair competition and efficiency. The main tasks of NCA include:

• licensing and regulating communication system operators; and
• Assigning or allocating communications systems frequencies.

Similar to most sub-Saharan African countries, the distribution of telephones is highly skewed in the urban areas, with Accra, the capital city, accounting for over 70 percent of all telephone lines. Rural telephone system which used to be non existent, has seen some improvements lately. Ghana Telecom is now operating the Wireless Local Loop (WILL) system on trial basis and will soon be introduced into the rural areas where about 60 percent of the population live.

The "Accelerated Development Program 1994-2000 (ADP 2000) is expected to address the above problems by narrowing the gap between the rural and urban areas and also by increasing the number of telephone lines to the target of 500,000 by the turn of the century. This target appears attainable since it costs about ¢434,500 ($167) to install phone line. So far, since the liberalisation of the industry, Ghana telecom has increased its phone lines (both residential and business) from 48,681 in 1993 to 105,534 in 1997. Additional lines by the other network operator, WESTELL has increased the national total to 130,000 as of end December 1997. This has resulted in almost a 100 percent increase in less than two years, that is 35,000 lines a year. Ghana Telecom has increased its public payphones from 30 in 1993 to 483 in 1997. This enhances its penetration per 100 population from 0.30 in 1993 to 0.57 in 1997.

As part of the Ghana-Vision 2020 the First Medium Term Development Plan (1997-2000) highlights on major issues and constraints of the telecommunications industry. The Plan lists the issues as frequent interruptions and a huge backlog in demand for telephone installations; inadequate service provision due to high cost or lack of spare parts for maintenance, high incidence of cable theft or destruction and a limited equipment capacity. There is also the issue of inability to generate the necessary financial requirements mainly due to a low bill collection ratio and finally, inadequate logistic support to provide inputs such as transport and materials for installation and maintenance.

The Plan therefore envisages the expansion of the network by providing a total of 440,000 direct exchange lines (Del) distributed over all the ten regions. The Tele-density is also to be increased to 2.10 by the end 2000 and the number of faults per line per year would be reduced to 0.5.

To achieve these objectives a programme of activities in the telecommunications sub-sector has been drawn up. This includes the attainment of efficient and effective service through the installation of new digital telephone exchanges in various parts of the country; increasing the capacities of the outside plant network; providing rural radio communication systems and integrates them into the national network. Finally, joint venture agreements with network operators and investors will be stepped up for the provision of the following:

• Data transmission
• Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) - a global based system for the extension of cellular service to remote areas,
• Data communication network
• Provide a new satellite earth station to cater for increased in international traffic ,
• Replace lead-sheathed paper insulated cables with jelly-filled cables to minimize the incidence of faults and cable theft,
• Replace old analogue radio transmission links with modern digital radio links,
• Carry out preventive and timely routine maintenance of new equipment to prevent frequent faults, and to
• Increase public access to telephone services through the public booth system in the rural areas and card phones in the urban areas and cities.

Currently, Ghana's telephone network has a capacity of over 130,000 lines and a telephone density of 0.70 lines per hundred population, the penetration is highly skewed in favour of the urban areas with the capital city Accra accounting for over 70 percent of the total lines.

Six types of activities therefore feature on the communication landscape, namely:

• Provision of Telecommunication Network Services
• Provision of Cellular Phone Services
• Provision of Internet Services
• Data Service Provision
• Provision of Paging services
• Provision of Radio and TV services

Two companies have been licensed to provide national and international telecommunication services - Ghana Telecom Ltd and ACG Telesystems Ltd.

As part of the ADP reform program, Ghana Telecom was incorporated on June 15, 1995 as a successor to the telecommunications division of Ghana Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (GPTC). The GPTC was established as a public corporation in 1974, and until October 1995, had been responsible for operating the nation's telecommunications system.

In December 1996, Ghana Telecom privatised its main line operations by awarding a Malaysian-led Consortium (Telkom Malaysia) a 30 percent stake in the state company for $38 million with full management control. The Government plans to sell a further 21 percent to the public but has not yet made clear how and when. The cities are connected by a microwave radio relay while the connection for international lines are by one Intelsat earth station near the Atlantic Ocean.

As part of the conditions governing the sale of 30 percent of its shares to the strategic investor and the granting of its operating license, GT is required to meet two main development targets relating to:

• network expansion
• service quality improvement

As at the end of 1997, the total telephone line capacity of GT was 160,000 lines. Out of this, over 100,000 lines have been connected, resulting in a teledensity of 0.6 lines per 100 inhabitants. As at the end of March 1998, the figure on connected lines was about 112,000.

GT's current network has the following features:

As indicated above, there are presently 11,200 lines available but estimated demand is in excess of 300,000.

Ghana Telecom currently operates both digital and analogue systems. At present its switch system is 90 percent digital while the transmission network is only 33 percent digital. It is planned that before the year 2000, all the switches and transmission network will be digital. In addition, there will be other state-of-the-art features, which will offer other value-added services like itemised billing.

Ghana Telecom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with some operators to establish a submarine fibre-optic cable linking West African countries and the Southern African regions. The project code-named SAT3/WAC is scheduled for implementation in the year 2000. When completed it will provide cost-effective connectivity between Southern and Western African countries comprising 73 percent of the sub-Saharan market. It will later be integrated with two other projects known as SAFE and Atlantis 2 to provide global connectivity to South East Asia, Western Europe and the Americas.

ACG Telesystems Ltd. is a joint venture between Western Wireless Company (based in Cambridge, Mass., USA), Ghana National Petroleum Company and ECG Telesystems, with Western Wireless owning 56 percent shares, GNPC owning 34 percent shares and ECG Telesystems owning 10 percent shares. The Consortium, which now trade under the name WESTEL, intends to invest between $40 million and $70 million in the coming five years. The licensing of a second national operator is expected to meet the current backlog of 300,000 telephone lines being demanded by consumers and to ensure efficiency and improved services. WESTEL have a requirement to have 100 payphones (supplied by intellicall) in service by the end of 1998 and they also plan to have 50,000 customers within three years. They are using a Nortel DMS 300 as their international gateway switch connected to a Class B Earth station.

Currently its network spans three sites - GNPC Geological Lab along the Spintex Road and Kyem Place at North Ridge both in Accra, and Tema. These sites are linked up by microwave. Below is a description of the facilities at the various sites:

• 11 metre standard B International Earth Station that links up to Intelsat 601
• Wireless Local Loop to serve the airport area

• Wireless Local Loop to serve Accra Central
• Prepaid Phone (PPP) platform to support 200 pay phones
• Subscription Instruments

Wireless Local Loop to serve the Tema community.

It is intended that the network will be expanded using a combination of facilities, notably fibre optics and VSATs. ACG also intends to offer the following services when it becomes operational:

• Voice
• Fax
• Data
• Network transit to cellular phone operators

These services will be increased to include cellular phone and Internet services by next year.

Ghana currently has three cellular phone operators, namely Millicom Ltd., Celltel Ltd. and Scancom. Ltd.

Millicon Ghana, a subsidiary of Millicom International, UK/Luxembourg, is the first cellular network that started its operations 1991. Millicom Ghana uses the ETAC System, and it had over 22,000 subscribers in 1998 with a market share of above 70 percent of the mobile market in the country. The company has started the installation of a countrywide network with the commissioning of a new satellite in Kumasi and a smaller project in Tamale. The services Mobitel currently offers include:

• voice
• data
• Fax transmission

Celltel owned by Kludjeson International started its operation in Ghana in 1993.Celltel Ltd. was licensed in June 1993 to provide cellular phone services but became operational in 1995. Celltel uses the AMPS technology. Its current network covers only the Accra-Tema metropolis but it is in the detailed planning phase for a nation-wide network expansion for both coverage and capacity to satisfy the large pent-up demand for services from prospective customers in many areas.

The services they currently offer include:

• voice (with facilities for call waiting, call forwarding and conferencing)
• data
• fax transmission

Scancom Ltd. is the youngest of the cellular phone service providers. It was licensed in August 1994 but became operational in November 1996. Operating under the service name Spacefon, it is the only GSM 900 fully digital mobile telephone system in Ghana.

It has 15 sites and uses equipment from Ericsson.

Initially, its network consisted of two relatively independent network-operating centres at Kumasi and Accra inter-linked via two dedicated earth stations. The Kumasi hub covers Kumasi and Obuasi and their suburbs while the Accra hub covers the Accra-Tema metropolis. To meet the increasing demand for their services, Spacefon has installed four new base stations in residential, commercial and industrial areas of Accra.

The network has since been expanded to the west to cover the coastal cities of Cape Coast, Sekondi and Takoradi and their suburbs as well as the mining areas of Tarkwa, Bogosso and Abosso.

Spacefon offers the following services:

• Voice
• Fax and Data
• Short Message service (S.M.S)
• Voice and Fax mail
• Roaming (not yet available)

Ghana Telecom is expected to begin mobile radio-based operations using GSM technology to attract 98,000 subscribers from all the 10 regions of Ghana. However, it plans to introduce CDMA systems into the network and to change its remaining analogue exchanges to digital by the close of 1999.

The second national operator trading under the name WESTEL is preparing to operate a nation-wide GSM cellular service.

The Internet service market is one of the dynamic and competitive areas of Ghana's information and communication sector. Though four companies are currently licensed to provide commercial Internet service in Ghana, only three are operational, namely:

• Network Computer Systems Ltd.
• InternetGhana Ltd.
• AfricaOnline (GH) Ltd.
• Datatel Ltd. (not yet operational)
• ITS (Information Technology Services)
• Microserve
• GARNet - Ghana Academic and Research Network.

Network Computer Systems (NCS) Ltd. Is an Information Technology company that specialises in establishing network solutions for organisations in West Africa. Though it was established in 1988, it started operating as an ISP in March 1996. It therefore has a reputation of being the first ISP in Ghana and West Africa.

NCS' current Network Infrastructure consists of 30 servers and a 16MB capacity international satellite dish. Though currently running at 2mb its bandwidth is the biggest in sub-Sahara Africa after South Africa. NCS offers its clients three modes of connectivity to its network, namely:

• Dial-up Connectivity for single user accounts, via the Public Switched Telephone Network.
• Leased line Connectivity for corporate body accounts, transiting GT network.
• Radio Connectivity for Corporate bodies and Institutions.

In order to cut down the telephone bills of clients with dial-up accounts who reside outside Accra, NCS has established virtual points of presence (POPS) in Takoradi and Kumasi, and plans to establish such POPS in all the regional capitals.

The staff capacity of NCS is 70, about 70 percent of whom are software and hardware. Engineers.

In addition to the mainstream Internet services (Email, Telnet, World Wide Web etc.) the applications currently run by NCS are:

• FAX2FAX,
• Free Web based Email service,
• Voice over IP,
• EDI service with GEIS,
• Ecommerce server
• Live Broadcasting servers

NCS Ltd. has successfully started an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) network service. This service has been implemented in collaboration with General Electric Information Services and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). EDI enables inter-business electronic exchange of business documents in a standard format. Such business documents include invoices, purchase orders, bills of laden, etc. The following are the fees NCS charges for their Internet Services:

Fees for web design and hosting, domain registration and other services are available at the NCS Web Services Page.

InternetGhana is a Ghanaian Company, licensed for the provision of Internet Services. Incorporated in June 1996, InternetGhana operates a link to the Internet, connecting to Cable and Wireless Internet Backbone in New York. InternetGhana operates at 128Kbps, and besides Accra it has set up a point of presence in Kumasi. The following fees apply for InternetGhana:

AfricaOnline (GH) Ltd

AfricaOnline (AfOL) is a multinational company with its head office in Boston, USA. Africa Online is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with operations in Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. AfricaOnline Ghana. Was granted license to operate as an ISP in Ghana in November 1996. It started its operations with a 64Kbps leased line connection to the AfricaOnline hub in Boston. Since then AfOL has expanded its bandwidth progressively to a current size of 192Kbps.

AfOL has made significant in roads in the hinterlands, being the first to set-up a POP in Tamale and has almost completed work on other Pops in Bolgatanga and Sunyani.

AfOL facilitates the deployment of email service to every Ghanaian by connecting communication centres to their network. This measure addresses the accessibility problem that has been a major obstacle because the average Ghanaian cannot afford a personal computer.

AfOL currently offers its clients two modes of connectivity, namely:

• Dial-up Connectivity and
• Leased line connectivity.

The following pricing structure applies for AfricaOnline Ghana:

There are a large number of small businesses providing public access telephone services, know as 'communication centres' in Ghana and an increasing number of them are now also providing dial-up Internet access services, riding on the network of AfricaOnline Ghana.

The major Web Hosting Companies in Ghana are:

• AfricaOnline Ghana
• BusinessGhana
• Ghanaclassifieds,
• InternetGhana
• Network Computer Systems (NCS) Ltd.
• Webstar

BusinessGhana is an Internet Presence Provider (IPP) located in Accra. Its mission is to categorise and define Ghanaian Business sites on the Internet. In view of this they have created the biggest Directory Listing of Ghanaian Business sites and these are very well grouped into divisions which makes it easier for searching and comparing firms in the same type of businesses. BusinessGhana is a department of Zipzig Ventures an Information Technology Company in Ghana.

Webstar provides useful information that is relevant to those who are interested in any thing Ghanaian. As part of the task, Webstar offers web site design services as an integral part of developing a cohesive body of information.

Ghanaclassifieds, an online marketing service that develops and creates a website presence of dynamic investment/financial opportunities where actual transactions between Ghanaian companies & institutions with other world-wide partners can participate in. A website that will house complete company profiles of over 100 different industries in Ghana for instant access to every user on the Internet.

Users and Host Sites:

Data Service Providers

Three companies have been licensed to provide Data Services, namely:

• Datatel Ltd.
• Milicom Ltd.
• KCompudata Ltd.

Datatel Ltd. is the first and only company in Ghana to establish and operate a nation-wide Public Data Transmission Network based on the X.25 Packet Switching Protocol. It was established as a result of a joint venture partnership between Ghana Telecom and Network Marketing Supplies Ltd. [Other strategic partners are British Telecom PIC (BT) and ECI Telematics]. Datatel was granted license to operate a VSAT Network in 1997 and has since focused solely on the provision of Data Communication Services.

The backbone network of Datatel, DATANET, is based on the X.25 packet switching protocol, using switching equipment designed and manufactured by ECI Telematics. DATANET currently consists of five X.25 packet switching nodes located at Accra North, Accra Central, Tema, Takoradi and Kumasi. In Accra-Tema metropolis 2MB digital links connect the switches at Accra-North, Accra-Central and Tema.

The trunk lines between the switching nodes use inter-urban microwave facilities to link the major communication centres in a mesh network. Each link consists of 1 to 4 lines throughput and is connected to the X.25 switches and terminated with modems allowing full duplex transmissions at speed of 9.6 KBPS. Each trunk thus provides an aggregate facility of 38.4Kbps, for load balancing and redundancy.

DATANET can be accessed from anywhere in Ghana or from abroad through any of the following access options:

• direct synchronous access via leased lines
• dial-up access via the Public Switched Telephone Network
• radio access

Datatel offers a wide range of services, namely:

• high speed data transfer
• file transfer
• Internet Services
• Electronic libraries
• Database accessing
• Bulletin boards
• inter-company and inter-enterprise Email
• fax and telex services

Milicom was granted license to operate a VSAT Network in 1996 and has since been offering such services.

KCompudata Services Ltd. was granted license to operate a VSAT Data Network in 1997.

Between 1990 and 1996 the NCA has granted one-way paging services to six (6) companies, namely:

• Giant International
• Page One
• Punch Communication
• Skytel
• Cubic Engineering
• American Telecom

A number of FM Radio stations have sprung up as a result of the government's liberalisation policy. Each regional capital has at least one FM radio station. Accra, the national capital, has about ten (10) FM stations; notable among them are Joy FM, Choice FM, Radio Gold, Vibe FM, Atlantis, Radio GAR, Peace FM, and Radio Universe.

In addition to GTV, Mnet and TV3, which are micro wave based TV stations, there are two other TV stations, namely Cable Gold, and Multi Choice (Ghana).

Recently, another dimension has been added to radio and TV broadcasts in Ghana. Exploiting the multimedia capability of the Internet, programmes of three (3) FM radio stations (Joy FM, GAR and Vibe) and one (1) TV station (GTV) are broadcast live on the Internet.

On the Information Technology front, there are well over 100 computer firms in the country. Most of these are involved in the sale of computer hardware and software. However a good number of them are also involved in software development and setting up of networks and capacity building (training) programmes. Notable among these are Soft Ltd., Tara Systems Ltd., Sambus Computers Ltd., Computer Systems Engineering Ltd., Network Computer Systems Ltd., Ananse Systems Ltd., Clydestone Ltd., Global Computers Ltd. And Digitronix Systems Ltd.

In Ghana, the institutions that have accreditation to provide training leading to the award of Diplomas and Degrees are the Universities and Polytechnics. Out of the five (5) universities only two currently run programmes in Information and Communication Technology related subjects; namely the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

The Computer Science Department of the University of Ghana runs a 3-year Combined Honours Programme for regular students leading to a B.Sc. or B.A degree in Computer Science and either Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology or Economics.

The Department of Computer Science at KNUST runs a four-year programme leading to the award of a BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science. Together the two computer science departments churn out an annual average of one hundred (100) graduates.

To complement the programmes at the universities, the country's polytechnics also run programmes leading to the award of Ordinary Diploma and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Information Technology.

In view of the dynamism of the discipline and the inability of the universities and polytechnics to cope with developments in the industry (due to a subsistent and continues reduction in funding to tertiary institutions; hence lack of adequate resources), some corporate bodies and allied institutions have set up training centres to bridge the gap between skills acquired at the conventional training centres and skills required in industry. Notables among these institutions are:

• Centre for Information and Communication Technology
• Ghana Telecommunications Training Centre (GTTC)
• Network Computer Systems
• Tara Systems Training Centre
• Ghana Telecommunications Training Centre (GTTC)

Ghana Telecom Ltd provides in-house training to its staff at its training centre (Ghana Telecommunications Training Centre). The centre which has recently been renovated with an IDA loan of $1.2 million, has entered into a Collaborative Agreement with the University of Science and Technology (UST), now called Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi for the purposes of exchange of personnel, and maximisation of the use of scarce resources.

Every year the Centre trains more than 2,500 trainees mostly from Ghana Telecom through its long and short term courses and seminars, averaging more than 3,500 trainee-weeks a year.

The Centre also provides excellent facilities for hosting Seminars and International Conferences. Among the hosts of some excellent facilities are the Computer-based Multimedia Learning Centre (CMLC) and an audio-visual Centre, comprising of a studio, micro teaching rooms and film editing centre. The centre produces its video films and documentaries for training back up and enhancement.

Ghana Computer Literacy & Distance Learning Project [GhaCLAD] is a Special Project of the Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana in collaboration with Projectscope Inc. of Boston, USA. The objectives of GhaCLAD are as follows:

• To explore means of utilising computers, telecommunications, audio/visual media and information technology to enhance primary, secondary, tertiary, vocational, professional development and continuing adult education in Ghana;
• To strengthen the capacity of grassroots organisations, low income communities and local schools to initiate, choose, plan and manage their own self-help projects through information technology and telecommunications;
• To create a demonstration effect on public opinion in terms of what information technology, electronic networking and community based computing can offer for national and international development;
• To increase awareness of how the computer and electronic connectivity can re-orient youth groups toward the economy and labour market of the 21st century; and
• To foster opportunities for youth from the all continents to engage in "service learning" providing computer literacy instruction to Ghanaian participants and technical assistance to the Project as they learn about Ghanaian culture and society.

CGA Consultants in Business Solutions is a private company that provides clients with a total business solution through the provision of systems analysis, design, software, implementation, consultancy, and training. CGA commenced operations in the region with its Abidjan office in 1982. Due to the demand for services throughout West Africa, it has expanded its operations and now has offices in Ghana, Gambia, and Senegal.

The Internet SOCiety Ghana Chapter (ISOG)

ISOC Ghana professional membership society established in Ghana in1997 with a MISSION to see to the open evolution of the Internet locally. The Ghana chapter of the Internet SOCieties worldwide comprising of more than 150 organizational and 6,000 individual members in over 100 countries.

It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet locally as well as organise workshops, seminars, conferences to inform and equip individuals and corporate institutions to take advantage of current developments in Information and Communication Technology to pivot Ghana`s economy.

The Society is open to individual and organizational membership whose benefits are not limited to THESE and it’s members are bound by a common stake in maintaining the viability and global scaling of the Internet. They comprise individuals, companies, government agencies, and foundations that have interest in the Internet and its technologies as well as innovative new entrepreneurial organizations contributing to maintain the Internet dynamics.

The Society is governed by an executive council made up of:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary and
• Treasurer

Currently the Society enjoys sponsorship from some Corporate Institutions

ICT Indicators - Ghana (1995-1998)
The following table is a summary of ICT indicators in Ghana.

Source: ITU (International Telecommunication Union), NW (Network Wizards) Internet Host Surveys and UNDP human development report.

Over the years a number of initiatives have been made towards building ICT infrastructure and resources in Ghana; notable among these are the Leyland initiative which aims at building infrastructure and providing access to the Internet, UNDPs SNDP which focuses on using ICT as a tool for sustainable development and the IICD initiative on National ICT Roundtable Conferences and ICT Capacity building.

Detail information on activities and projects undertaken in the field of ICTs and/or knowledge management can be found at the Bellanet GK-AIMS web page. It contains a comprehensive database that includes completed, on-going, as well as planned and proposed future ICT activities/projects. Below are brief descriptions of the project ideas that this study intends to develop into project proposals and subsequently implement:

The strategic objectives of the NICI plan is to make sure that certain basic items needed for ICT development are in place in order to foster growth and development in the country. These can be categorised into

• Infrastructure development
• Education programs
• Flagship Projects
• Human resource projects
• Communication with stakeholders

Priority Actions

The priority action under this project is to make sure that there is adequate infrastructure in Ghana to create the enabling environment for the development of ICT. There should be awareness campaigns for people to know what is available, private sector participation should be made paramount in this objective, different technologies should be encouraged to interplay in this objective. This should also include the computer driving license concept, where schools can get certified to provide courses and they can be categorised much properly.

The development sectors that will be affected by these strategic objectives are the telecommunications, computer, software, computer hardware.

The target groups for this will be telecom companies, end users who want affordable services, software companies and also Internet service providers.

The projects that come under this area are:

• Infrastructure
• Semiconductor design
• Cyberkrom

Priority Actions

The priority actions under this plan is to increase the awareness of Ghanaian of ICT and also to start the plans to make them knowledge workers which should be a strategic direction for the country. Emphasis should be put on equipping people to understand the new technologies and be in the position to take on a lot of the new ideas that are generated in the ICT space. Certification of individuals should be given priority and capacity building should be a prime priority.

The development sectors that will be affected in this objective are the Ministry of education, the national development planning commission, The Ghana Army, the transportation sector, and the Ghanaian populace as a whole.

The target groups that have been identified in this objective are the military, the Ghanaian populace, students and also groups of individuals who are interested in developing their ICT skills.

• Mass computer literacy drive
• Role and responsibilities of parties
• Partnerships to be promoted
• Co-ordination framework among the various sectors for execution and follow-up of NICI plan

Priority Activities

The priority activities in this objective will be to document the movement and also categorise the skill levels of Ghanaians. This objective will comprise of databases which ideally should be linked together for easy access to information.

The development sectors that will be touched in this project will be the ministry of communication, the national communications authority, the electoral commission, the ministry of health. All these sectors will stand to benefit from increased access to data, which hitherto was too difficult to find or too complicated to implement manually.

The target groups that will benefit are the Ghanaian populaces as a whole and also skilled personnel who can benefit from use of the database.

Decision-makers and policy makers can also benefit from these databases, because they can make more informed decisions.

• African ICT expertise database
• Electronic Births and Deaths Registry
• Automatic Voter Registration System
• Companies Registration

Priority Actions

The Flagship projects are projects that are viewed to be very beneficial to the economy and also to the development of ICT in the country. These are some of the next generation projects that need a lot of expertise to help achieve. These projects are viewed as the main projects with a lot of attention being focused on them.

Development Sectors

The development sectors that will be influenced by these projects are the Ministries, the IT sector, the telecommunications sector, software houses, Internet service providers and application service providers.

The target groups that will be affected by this are the Ghanaian populace, scientists, university students and the security forces.

• Projects
• Health Information System
• Ecommerce for Non-Traditional Exports
• Egovernance
• Folk Music database
• Security Networks
• Electronic Financial Clearing House

Priority Actions

It is important to promote information flow amongst stakeholders, this project is to make it possible for information to flow from the users of the

Systems that have been put place to the stakeholders and decision-makers. That is why this project seeks to put in place at the various district capitals telecenters and information houses for people to get access to adequate information.

The development sectors will be the Telecommunications sectors, the Internet service providers, schools, and district information centers. With such a project in place it will be possible to tax the basic infrastructure needed to provide links and circuit to these areas.

The target groups that will benefit from this project are the Ghanaian populace, the users of information and people who need to get access to speedy information. The telecenters will make it possible for most, decision-makers, students and teachers in the district capitals to have access to the same information as those in the big cities.

• Public Information clearing house
• District Telecentres

This project seeks to look at the main infrastructure requirements for the country in order to have very effective ICT initiatives. Without basic infrastructure it will be difficult to fulfil the rest of the projects, there must be basic infrastructure in place for small funded projects to develop efficiently. Emphasis must be put on developing a strong telecom infrastructure and a broadband network to support data, voice, and video conferencing. It is envisaged that the implementation of the project will involve the setting up of various VSAT links between the regional capitals and the national capital, and eventually linking the district capitals. This will become the national backbone that will service industry, government and the private sector. This is a priority because all other projects outlined below require the existence of a form of network.

Mass Computer Literacy Drive

The main objective of this project is to attain a computer literacy level of 30 percent by the year 2005. Building on an existing Adult Literacy Programme, and using organised bodies such as the Ghana Armed Forces, unions, Ghana National Association of teachers, national service personnel and others and a mobile van equipped with computers and communication equipment, the project will embark on an aggressive field exercises aimed at equipping the average Ghanaian worker the necessary skills to enable him/her use a computer effectively in his/her work environment.

Other issues to look at are:

• Organised bodies such as the Military, local unions, Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Service personnel and others to be used for the improvement of the literacy level
• The need for sustainability and funding so that its not a nine day wonder
• Target group be clearly identified for the project take off
• Ownership and competing interest be spelt out
• The project can be expanded to be included in the school curriculum programme
• Local language programming to be used catch and attract all literacy levels

African ICT Expertise Database

The objective of this project is to create an ICT database of all potential users and disseminators of ICT information, this will make it possible for Ghana to have a comprehensive linkage to all its experts who can be called upon to help in ICT projects.

Some NGO's have started working on this but we have to harness all the databases together into one composite one and for it to be available in electronic medium on the WWW.

Electronic Births and Deaths Registry

The objective of this project is to enhance record keeping and data integrity of the records kept at the Births and Deaths Registry of Ghana. Such a system will not only make information retrieval easy but will also facilitate effective national planning. It will require setting up a network infrastructure that links up all the offices of the Births and Deaths Registry to the Health System and the District Assemblies for real time updates of the database. This project can be dovetailed into other identity projects so they can share resources, like the voter registration system and the social security system.

Automatic Voter Registration System

Every four years Ghanaians queue to register for the voters' register to be updated. This exercise cost the country and international aid agencies millions of dollars. Rather than spending all this money, time and effort to carry out this exercise every four years; this project will address this problem by automating the process.

This project which is based on the premise of a high literacy level and a good record keeping habit is a natural follow-up of the Mass Computer Literacy Warfare project and will be integrated to the Electronics Births and Deaths Registry.

Health Information System (+ Electronic Health Card)

Presently the health sector, has the greatest number of systems amongst the social sectors of Ghana, however these systems address only, the requirements of the specific departments under the health sector, there is rarely any collaboration and the health sector in the end is the loser.

Added to this is the fact that the biggest record management, that is outpatient's records is very much in a manual state in Most Hospitals and other health facilities. The objective of this project is to unify the various health systems into an integrated health information system, and also to provide an online database of outpatients. Ultimately, basic statistics of a patient including the specific ailments will be captured on an electronic health card to be used any time the patient goes to any of these designated health centres.

Semiconductor Design Centres

Mass usage and ICT development depends very much on building a viable industry, that relies on local expertise in both content development and hardware manufacture. The non-existence of semiconductor design centres makes the development of ICT expensive in terms of importation of virtually every ICT component. With level of software expertise available and experts in VLSI design, this centre will serve as the instrument for making it possible for international assignments to be undertaken in Ghana.

This will also be integrated into the cyberkrom (cyber village) being proposed.

Public Information Clearing House

Access to accurate and timely information is a critical pre-requisite for national development. Policy-makers, planners, researchers, investors, etc depend on reliable information for planning and decision-making. The trend worldwide, in terms of information storage and transfer, especially in the industrialised countries, is towards the use of databases and data communications networks.

Currently, in Ghana, there are a number of institutions and companies developing electronic information systems, catering for varied information needs of different categories of users. There is, however, very limited exchange of information among the institutions and between the information providers and the potential consumers. Consequently, the awareness of the existence of electronic information is very limited. There are no cross-linkages between the information systems either since most of them are not available in electronic form.

Lacking access and co-ordination of the nations information flows is presenting an important bottleneck to good governance in terms of an effective and transparent policy formulation and implementation. Furthermore, it hampers access to information required by government, businesses, NGOs and the general public. The aim of this project is to co-ordinate, integrate and improve access to these valuable sources of information. This project which will be owned by the Information Services department of the Ministry of Communication will be a one-stop point where one could query the system and retrieve information from any of several databases participating in this project.

E-Commerce for Non-Traditional Exports

Calls for restructuring of the world economic order, has gone unheeded by the developed countries and this has led to a fall in incomes derived mainly from exporting traditional commodities like gold timber bauxite etc.

As a response to this unfair trading practice non traditional it has become necessary to look at other ways of encouraging access to our traditional exports through e-commerce.

Some issues that need to be addressed when trying to institute the e-commerce initiatives include:

• A well structured addressing system for delivery of goods and services.
• A strengthened payment and collection system.
• Trade centres should be established
• Inter bank networks should be established
• Quality controls be instituted for goods and IT

Electronic Financial Clearing House

There is the need to have a financial clearing house that will make it possible for all financial institutions be able to clear cheques electronically. All the participating banks be able to use each others ATM, this project will have under it a credit card scheme which all the banks will subscribe to and make it possible for a nation wide credit card scheme to be available in the country.

E-Governance

Electronic Governance looks at the concept of getting all the elements of government online including the regional and district capitals. It will look at the whole concept of getting the judiciary, the legislature and the executive office online. This will facilitate electronic publishing of all laws, the ability of citizens to communicate with their congressmen, there will be a tree of sorts which will show the relationship between laws, examples of all cases will be online, all deliberations will also be online, and a web site will be set up to include all the constitution of the country and the bylaws so its readily available. These will be enforced using tools like web sites, list serves, news groups, broadcast medium for live broadcast and multicasting. Citizens will be able to send deliberations and information back to headquarters and being able to vote electronically on issues that are of importance to the constituencies.

Folk Music Database

With the passage of time it has been noticed that a lot of our folk music are losing their essence in the society, so this project will look at digitising all these music and making in available for generations to come. All the dances and indigenous ways of life will be captured and stored so we can always have access to them when we want.

District TeleCentres

The district telecenter concept looks at putting telecentres in all districts so that citizens will be able to get access to the Internet and also be able to send and receive

Electronic messages, this will also allow students in the districts to be able to do research on project works as well.

Cyber Krom

This is a project to set up a cyber village in Accra in between the university and the atomic energy agency. This will be modeled along the multimedia corridor and the cyber jaya in Malaysia. This will have access to all the new technologies and task the universities to come out with talent to support this initiative, it is believed that at the end of this, there will be a movement that will be initiated and put in place to support, the Internet and all the technologies that made it possible.

Security Networks

This project seeks to improve electronic surveillance of the city of Accra and have an online database of all trouble spots in Accra so that in the case of emergency the security agencies can know exactly what time the crime occurred and also have the information on tape.

Companies Registration

This project seeks to make sure that all the Ghanaian companies registration exercise is linked to a database which is available to every one who wants to do searches and get information on all companies in the country.

Profile of Ghana NICI Project Team

The profile of the Ghana National Information and Communication Infrastructure Project team is as follows:

NICI ListServe and Website

To facilitate communication among members and access to information the Ghana NICI has set-up a list serve and is about launching its web site. The mailing list address is nici@ghana.com and the launched website.

[Top]