Bawumia Speaks: Government has created 2.1 million jobs between 2017 and 2022 - Dr. Bawumia - Adom TV (7-2-2024)
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TVTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:28 That we were going to end up like the situation in Sri
00:32 Lanka, with fuel shortages, food shortages, inability
00:38 to pay workers, doomsaw, anarchy, and chaos.
00:44 Indeed, Ghanaians were hit hard by rising food prices,
00:51 increased extreme rate depreciation,
00:54 and rising fuel prices, and rising transportation fares.
01:01 Bond holders also saw a sharp decline in their net worth,
01:08 following the painful debt restructuring program.
01:13 We faced very challenging times.
01:18 But with calm leadership, and the support and understanding
01:23 of the good people of Ghana, we have wedded the storm.
01:28 The government had to seek IMF support
01:32 to stabilize our economy, and restore fiscal and debt
01:37 sustainability over three years.
01:41 I must, at this stage, salute and give particular recognition
01:47 to the Bank of Ghana, which has come under unfair criticism
01:53 for taking the necessary measures which
01:56 helped pull the economy back from the brink.
02:01 The Bank of Ghana provided needed financing
02:05 to the government at that critical moment.
02:09 What the Bank of Ghana did was very responsible
02:15 in putting the interests of the good citizens of Ghana first.
02:20 The data which is available shows
02:23 that the financing provided to the government by the Bank
02:28 of Ghana was temporary.
02:31 The Bank of Ghana has provided zero financing to government
02:36 in five out of the last seven years.
02:40 Zero financing in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
02:49 The Bank of Ghana financing of government
02:52 in the COVID-19 year of 2020, and the liquidity crisis
02:58 year of 2022, was because of the domestic and global crisis
03:04 with underperforming revenue, and no access
03:07 to international capital markets.
03:11 Ladies and gentlemen, the good news
03:14 is that the data shows that the economy is recovering
03:19 from the crisis we faced.
03:21 [APPLAUSE]
03:26 Inflation has declined from 54% in January last year
03:35 to 23% in December 2023.
03:42 Economic growth is rebounding.
03:46 Spending is under control.
03:49 And the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP
03:52 has declined from 10.8% in 2020 to 4.2% in 2023.
04:04 The debt to GDP ratio, after increasing from 61.2%
04:11 in 2019 to 76.6% in 2021, has declined to 66.4% in 2023.
04:24 And the exchange rate depreciation
04:27 has also slowed down sharply since February 2023.
04:34 Whereas the exchange rate depreciated by 30% in 2022,
04:40 between February and December 2023,
04:44 the exchange rate depreciated by only 9%.
04:49 Ladies and gentlemen, what is remarkable
04:54 is that notwithstanding the domestic and global crisis
04:59 that we have experienced between 2020 and 2022,
05:05 the economic performance as measured
05:08 by the key economic indicators, such as GDP growth,
05:13 agricultural growth, industry growth, trade balance, exchange
05:18 rate depreciation, lending rates,
05:22 gross international reserves, and jobs,
05:26 the performance of all these key indicators
05:28 is better under our government than that of the 2013
05:33 to 2016 period.
05:37 When there was no global crisis, when
05:42 there was no global crisis--
05:43 let me give you two examples for the sake of time.
05:49 You look at agricultural growth, and the stronger GDP growth
05:54 performance in 2017 to 2022 period
06:00 is underpinned by a strong agricultural GDP
06:03 growth, which increased from an average of 2.9%
06:09 between 2013 and 2016 to an average of 6%
06:15 between 2017 and 2022.
06:19 We have done double what we inherited,
06:22 notwithstanding the crisis.
06:24 We have made a lot of progress in agriculture,
06:28 even though there is more to be done.
06:31 Rice imports, for example, have declined by 45%
06:37 from 805,000 metric tons to 440,000 metric tons
06:43 between 2021 and 2023.
06:49 The goal is to be a net exporter of rice by 2028.
06:56 It is clear that some of our policy interventions,
07:02 such as planting for food and jobs, have borne fruit.
07:08 I now tackle exchange rate depreciation.
07:12 On the performance of the city exchange rate,
07:16 it is also interesting to note that between 2013 and 2016,
07:23 just before we came into office, the city depreciated
07:27 by an average of 17.7% annually.
07:33 But since 2016, between 2017 and 2020,
07:42 there was a significant decline in city depreciation
07:46 to an average of 7.5%.
07:49 The average city depreciation further declined to 6.8%
07:55 between 2017 and 2021.
07:58 However, the 30% depreciation of the city in 2022
08:04 resulted in the average depreciation of the city
08:07 between 2017 and 2022 to be 10.75%.
08:14 So again, notwithstanding the domestic and global economic
08:19 crisis, the depreciation of the city under our government
08:24 is lower than that we inherited from the 2013 to 2016 period.
08:32 Let me talk about jobs.
08:35 What is probably the most remarkable development
08:40 in terms of the economy is that our government has created
08:46 2.1 million jobs between 2017 and 2022,
08:53 notwithstanding the global economic crisis.
08:57 The public sector recruited 1.2 million people,
09:02 while the private sector created 975,000 jobs,
09:09 according to SNIT data.
09:13 We recruited 100,000 more health workers,
09:17 100,000 more teachers.
09:19 We more than doubled the fire service personnel, and so on.
09:24 Our government clearly has created more jobs
09:29 in the last seven years than any other government
09:33 in the Fourth Republic.
09:37 This is truly remarkable under the circumstances,
09:41 even though we still have to create more jobs.
09:45 Ladies and gentlemen, clearly, notwithstanding
09:49 the economic crisis, this government
09:53 has been able to steer the ship of the nation away
09:57 from catastrophe.
10:05 In the face of the crisis, overall performance
10:11 of the economy in areas such as GDP growth,
10:14 agricultural growth, industrial growth, trade balance,
10:18 gross international reserves, and job creation
10:22 has demonstrated resilience.
10:25 Ladies and gentlemen, available data
10:29 also shows that notwithstanding the challenging economy
10:33 we inherit and the global economic crisis that ensued,
10:39 government has chalked a large number of achievements
10:43 across the country.
10:45 Due to the constraints of time, I
10:49 will only be able to enumerate a few of these achievements.
10:55 However, government will soon outdoor our performance tracker
11:01 in the next few weeks, which will detail
11:04 all of our achievements in every sector and every district
11:09 in the Republic of Ghana.
11:12 But I'll name just a few of the achievements.
11:16 We have undertaken a major roads construction and rehabilitation
11:21 program across the country, over 11,674 kilometers of roads,
11:28 according to data from the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
11:31 I am not aware of any government that
11:34 has done as much in the road sector since 1992.
11:40 We have initiated and overseeing the construction
11:44 and rehabilitation of more railways
11:48 than any other government since 1992.
11:51 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
12:01 We have extended the rural telephony network to more areas
12:08 than any other government since 1992.
12:11 We have increased the network from 78 sites to 1,008 sites.
12:18 We have constructed more fish landing sites
12:22 than any other government.
12:24 Exin, Dixco, Mori, Manfort, [INAUDIBLE]
12:31 Teshi, Ketah, Osu, Ekunfi, and Mfatsiman.
12:35 [APPLAUSE]
12:38 Ladies and gentlemen, our government
12:41 has constructed more sports facilities
12:44 than any other government since 1992.
12:47 We have completed six new multi-purpose sports stadiums
12:51 and four ongoing in each of the 10 regions,
12:56 all 10 regions.
12:57 We completed the University of Ghana stadium in Lagon built--
13:02 [AUDIO OUT]
13:21 --constructed more infrastructure
13:24 and implemented more development policies in the Zongo
13:29 communities than any other government since '92.
13:32 The Zongo Development Fund has completed
13:35 over 200 infrastructure projects in Zongo communities.
13:40 [AUDIO OUT]
13:44,
13:59 [AUDIO OUT]
14:21 We have also extended NHIS coverage
14:25 to childhood cancers and hydroxyurea medicine
14:30 for sickle cell patients.
14:33 Ladies and gentlemen, we provided free electricity
14:38 to lifeline consumers and a 50% discount
14:42 to other consumers for a whole year during COVID-19.
14:49 It is important, and it is very important that you hear this,
14:53 that between 2009 and 2016, the average annual increase
15:02 in the electricity tariffs was 50% a year,
15:08 between 2009 and 2016.
15:11 Average annual increase was 50% a year.
15:15 Between 2017 and 2023, on the other hand,
15:19 the average annual increase has been 11.1%.
15:24 [APPLAUSE]
15:27 This is the lowest average annual increase in end user.
15:33 For me, to lead is to solve.
15:37 Indeed--
15:37 [APPLAUSE]
15:41 Indeed, all my adult life, my biggest motivation
15:47 is about finding solutions, solutions that improve lives,
15:53 solutions that make public services efficient
15:57 and accessible, solutions that make society progress,
16:02 solutions that protect the public purse, solutions that
16:06 make our businesses competitive.
16:09 I derive my greatest satisfaction
16:12 from solving problems.
16:14 And I have done so whenever I am given the opportunity
16:18 and will do more if I am given the mandate to do so.
16:22 [APPLAUSE]
16:25 I had long held the view that many of these problems facing
16:31 the economy could be resolved through digitalization.
16:36 In fact, in my 2010 book on monetary policy
16:42 and financial sector reform in Africa,
16:45 I proposed digitalization amongst others
16:49 as the way forward for African countries.
16:53 So when we assumed office in 2017, as vice president,
16:59 I made the decision, with the blessings and support
17:03 of the president, to focus on the critical but underdeveloped
17:09 systems that would expand the economy, improve systems,
17:15 and create jobs through digitalization.
17:18 [APPLAUSE]
17:21 Therefore, as the finance minister oversees the budget
17:27 through fiscal policy, the governor of the central bank
17:30 also focused on monetary and exchange rate policy.
17:34 I focused on the complementary data and systems
17:38 improvement that would ensure the ease of doing business
17:43 and change the fundamentals of the economy,
17:47 making it more dynamic and responsive to modern trends
17:52 and the management of it more scientific and efficient.
17:58 Ladies and gentlemen, I was thankfully
18:02 appointed as chairman of the economic management team,
18:06 as a subcommittee to cabinet.
18:09 We do not have any decision-making powers,
18:12 but I am very proud of the quality of advice
18:16 we have been providing over the years to cabinet.
18:20 As vice president, I was asked by the president
18:24 to assist in solving some of the problems that
18:27 were inhibiting the transformation of Ghana's
18:30 economy.
18:31 My approach was to help formalize the economy
18:35 through digitalization, as stated in our 2016 manifesto.
18:41 This is why my office has had oversight responsibility
18:46 for many of the government's digitalization projects.
18:50 We can only build a vibrant nation
18:54 if we have strong systems and institutions that work.
18:58 Very soon, artificial intelligence
19:01 will transform the world.
19:03 How are we preparing Ghana for this new phenomenon?
19:08 I will now come to how we are using digitalization
19:12 to transform the economy and preparing our society
19:17 to be competitive, as Africa is busily
19:20 becoming the largest single market in the world,
19:24 with its 1.4 billion people.
19:28 Ladies and gentlemen, a major problem
19:31 that we had as a country was the absence
19:35 of a unique identity for citizens and residents.
19:40 With oversight from my office, the National Identification
19:45 Authority moved very quickly with the issuance
19:49 of the biometric national ID cards, the Ghana
19:53 card, to the population.
19:54 [APPLAUSE]
19:57 The Ghana card project was initiated by President Kufuor.
20:03 [APPLAUSE]
20:07 So far, some 17 million people have been enrolled on the Ghana
20:14 card by the NIA.
20:17 I'd like to note that between 2007 and 2016,
20:23 only 900,000 Ghana cards were issued.
20:29 With the Ghana card, the identity of the people,
20:33 even dead people, can be established
20:36 using their fingerprints.
20:38 With the Ghana card, every Ghanaian,
20:41 regardless of location or status, whether rich or poor,
20:46 now can be officially registered and recognized as a Ghanaian.
20:53 Before this, it was possible for someone
20:58 to be born, live, and die in Ghana
21:01 without ever being registered.
21:04 Identity fraud, age cheating, football age,
21:09 people cheating on their retirement age, fake birth
21:15 certificates, fake passports will no longer
21:18 be possible with the Ghana card.
21:21 [APPLAUSE]
21:24 Today, because your Ghana card is
21:28 linked to your bank account and your SIM card,
21:32 people cannot just go and borrow money from the bank
21:35 and disappear and appear with a new name, as used to happen.
21:40 And this led to higher interest rates.
21:43 The Ghana card can also be used to travel from abroad
21:48 into Ghana from 44,000 airports in the world.
21:52 [APPLAUSE]
21:55 The Ghana card is a major element
21:58 in many of the digitalization initiatives
22:01 that we are undertaking.
22:03 That is why its successful implementation
22:07 has been so important to me.
22:10 Ladies and gentlemen, to solve the problem
22:14 of a lack of a working address system in Ghana,
22:18 with oversight from my office, we
22:20 have leveraged on GPS technology to implement a digital address
22:26 system for Ghana, capturing every square inch of land
22:31 or water in Ghana.
22:33 Today, every property in Ghana has a unique digital address,
22:38 along with street names and house numbers.
22:41 And finding directions to any location is now very easy.
22:46 [APPLAUSE]
22:49 Ladies and gentlemen, we face a major problem
22:56 of very few people having access to financial services.
23:02 To solve this problem, I championed the implementation
23:06 of mobile money interoperability.
23:10 Mobile money interoperability has
23:12 made it possible to transfer money seamlessly
23:16 across different mobile money providers
23:20 and between bank accounts and mobile wallets.
23:24 Today, because of mobile money interoperability,
23:28 you can transfer money from a customer of one mobile money
23:32 service provider to a customer of a different mobile money
23:36 service provider, and also make payments from your mobile money
23:41 account into any bank account.
23:43 And you can receive payments from any bank account
23:46 into your mobile money account.
23:51 Ladies and gentlemen, you can do this 24 hours a day.
23:56 [APPLAUSE]
23:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
24:02 Apart from achieving financial inclusion,
24:16 mobile money interoperability has also significantly
24:22 promoted a cashless culture, especially by our market women
24:28 and the business community, thus reducing
24:31 robberies and attacks on market women and business
24:34 folks on our highways.
24:36 Robbers-- armed robbers used to attack vehicles,
24:40 carrying traders, knowing they were carrying cash.
24:44 But now, many traders don't carry cash
24:47 because they keep their monies on their mobile wallets
24:51 for seamless transactions wherever they are.
24:56 Today, because of mobile money interoperability,
24:59 you can also receive remittances from abroad directly
25:04 onto your mobile wallet without the need
25:07 to go to a bank or Western Union money transfer.
25:12 Because of mobile money--
25:14 because the mobile money account performs just
25:17 like a bank account as a result of mobile money interoperability,
25:22 over 90% of Ghanaian adults have mobile money accounts
25:27 that function just like bank accounts.
25:32 Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
25:35 we have basically solved the problem of financial exclusion
25:41 in Ghana.
25:42 The state of inclusive instant payment report
25:46 has ranked Ghana as the number one in Africa
25:50 in terms of access to financial inclusion--
25:54 number one in the whole of Africa.
25:58 Today, because of digitalization,
26:02 anyone can do banking and digital financial transactions
26:07 24 hours a day.
26:09 [CHEERING]
26:16 The data shows that at the end of 2016,
26:23 the total cumulative value of mobile money transactions
26:28 was 78.5 billion Ghana Cs at the end of 2016.
26:34 Following mobile money interoperability,
26:37 the total cumulative value of mobile money transactions
26:41 has increased from 78.5 billion to 1.9 trillion Cs in 2023.
26:53 Therefore, between 2016 and 2023,
26:59 following mobile money interoperability,
27:03 mobile transactions have increased by 2,335%.
27:10 A 23-fold increase.
27:13 This is why Ghana continues to be the fastest-growing mobile
27:20 money market in Africa.
27:21 Ladies and gentlemen, the digital payments infrastructure
27:28 that we have put in place is boosting e-commerce in Ghana.
27:33 Businesses are booming over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
27:37 and so mobile money interoperability.
27:42 Ladies and gentlemen, e-commerce
27:46 can be done 24 hours a day.
27:49 [CHEERING]
27:53 Ghana is currently ranked number six in Africa
28:04 in terms of e-commerce.
28:05 Number six in Africa.
28:07 Behind Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia,
28:12 and Morocco, according to Amta.
28:14 Ladies and gentlemen, addressing corruption
28:19 in the public service.
28:20 Our approach to improving delivery of public services
28:25 is to minimize human contact as much as possible.
28:31 Therefore, we embark on an aggressive digitalization
28:36 of processes of service delivery across many public institutions
28:42 with coordination from my office.
28:45 When you look at the passport office,
28:47 we have digitalized the passport office
28:50 with oversight from my office.
28:52 With digitalization, the average turnaround
28:56 for acquisition of passports has been significantly reduced.
29:01 And today, because of digitalization of the passport
29:05 office, you can apply for your passport online from your home
29:10 24 hours a day.
29:13 [CHEERING]
29:16 The digitalization of the passport application process
29:26 has resulted in a major increase in the number of passports
29:30 processed annually, as well as the revenue yield
29:33 to the passport office.
29:35 In 2018, the total number of passports issued
29:40 was 346,911.
29:44 And the revenue generated in 2018 was 11.8 million.
29:49 By 2023, following digitalization,
29:53 the passport office issued 751,761 passports
29:59 with revenue of 94 million garrisons.
30:04 [CHEERING]
30:06 The ultimate objective is to eradicate human interface
30:12 in all phases of the passport application process,
30:17 to give true meaning to the online filing and processing
30:21 of forms.
30:22 I will come back to this issue of passport
30:26 shortly when I get into my vision and priority.
30:30 [CHEERING]
30:32 Then we went to the ports.
30:39 Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
30:41 previously, the bureaucracy in declaring of goods at Ghana's
30:46 ports involved a lot of paperwork,
30:50 which used to be largely manual.
30:53 This caused delays, corruption, inefficiencies, frustration,
31:00 and loss of revenue to government.
31:02 Many citizens who declared goods at Ghana's ports
31:06 had horror stories about their experiences at the port.
31:11 With oversight from my office, the introduction
31:14 of a paperless port system has reduced the layers
31:18 and simplified the process, reduced the time needed
31:22 to clear goods and the avenues for corruption,
31:25 and increased efficiencies and revenue mobilization
31:29 at the ports.
31:31 Digitalization has also taken place
31:34 at the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority, which
31:37 offers two traditional services, driver licensing and vehicle
31:43 registration services.
31:45 And today, the office services that DVLA is offering
31:49 can be matched-- well, they are just world class.
31:53 They can be matched to any other country.
31:55 Ladies and gentlemen, my office also
31:58 worked with the National Insurance Commission
32:01 to implement the Moto Insurance Database.
32:05 The objective of the introduction of the Moto
32:09 Insurance Database is to provide more safeguards
32:13 for the millions of Ghanaians who travel by road
32:17 by ensuring that vehicles are insured.
32:21 It also kept the minis of vehicles
32:24 with fake Moto Insurance tickets playing our rules,
32:28 and thus endangering lives and property.
32:32 With digitalization of the Moto Insurance in Ghana,
32:36 members of the public can now self-check the authenticity
32:41 of their insurance policy by dialing a USSD code,
32:46 star 920, star 57, hash, and follow the instructions.
32:51 You put in the number, it will tell you
32:53 whether the car is insured or is not insured.
32:57 So today, you can know the status of the vehicle.
33:03 It's the insurance status of any vehicle 24 hours a day.
33:13 Today, because of digitalization,
33:17 you can also apply for insurance for your vehicle
33:21 on your mobile phone and receive your insurance sticker
33:26 electronically.
33:28 And you can do this 24 hours a day.
33:40 Ladies and gentlemen, with oversight from my office,
33:44 we have digitized the Beths and Deaths Registry.
33:48 And we have just completed the integration of the Beths
33:54 and Deaths Registry with the databases of the Ghana Health
33:59 Service and the National Identification Authority
34:03 so that the record of deaths and deaths
34:05 would be consistent across all of these databases.
34:10 Starting this quarter-- in fact, I
34:13 will launch this in a few weeks--
34:16 but starting this quarter, newborn children in Ghana
34:21 will be given a Ghana card number.
34:23 But the actual Ghana card will be issued
34:31 when the child is six years old, when
34:34 his or her biometrics are fully formed.
34:38 So we are bringing it up to Ghana.
34:40 Ladies and gentlemen, in the past,
34:48 candidates applying for a scholarship
34:51 usually had to travel from all parts of Ghana
34:55 to Accra to take part in the application process.
35:00 This caused a great deal of inconvenience for applicants
35:04 seeking government sponsorships.
35:07 The manual processes of the scholarship secretariat
35:10 resulted in an inefficient administration of scholarships
35:14 in the country.
35:16 With the digitalization of the scholarship secretariat,
35:20 candidates can now apply for scholarship
35:23 from the comfort of their homes 24 hours a day
35:28 and take absolute tests and be interviewed
35:31 by their own-- in their own district.
35:35 The Ghana.gov platform-- ladies and gentlemen,
35:38 to make it easy to access government services,
35:43 I led the initiative to establish the Ghana.gov
35:48 platform, which was implemented with oversight from my office.
35:52 The Ghana.gov platform is a one-stop shop
35:57 for accessing government services.
36:00 So far, out of the 1,516 ministries, departments,
36:07 and agencies targeted, we have onboarded 1,503 of them
36:15 onto the Ghana.gov platform for e-government services.
36:20 So 99% of MMDAs have been onboarded
36:26 on the Ghana.gov platform.
36:28 All payments on the Ghana.gov platform
36:32 go directly into the government accounts
36:35 to ensuring transparency.
36:37 Since 2020, a total of 201 billion Ghana CDs
36:44 has been collected for government on the platform.
36:49 For services onboarded and receiving payments,
36:53 you should be able to apply for and obtain any government
36:57 service online through the Ghana.gov platform
37:01 24 hours a day.
37:03 [CHEERING]
37:06 Digitalization has, therefore, dealt a severe blow
37:10 to the corruption involved in the collection of payments
37:15 by different institutions for government.
37:19 The progress Ghana has made in the provision of e-government
37:24 services is remarkable.
37:27 According to the UNDP 2022 e-governance index,
37:32 Ghana is ranked number one in West Africa
37:36 and number four in the whole of Africa
37:39 in terms of e-governance.
37:41 And we are ahead of countries such as Rwanda, Botswana,
37:47 Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, and Uganda.
37:52 With oversight from my office, ladies and gentlemen,
37:56 digitalization at the electricity company of Ghana
38:01 has allowed the buying of electricity credit
38:04 on your mobile phone through the mobile ECG app.
38:08 This has provided relief to customers
38:12 who no longer have to queue for long hours
38:15 to buy electricity units.
38:17 Also, for people whose credit runs out at odd hours,
38:22 they can purchase electricity credit on their mobile phones
38:27 24 hours a day.
38:30 [CHEERING]
38:34 Now, for people who need a new service or a separate meter
38:40 from ECG, they can also apply online 24 hours a day.
38:46 [CHEERING]
38:50 3.5 million people are on the ECG app.
38:54 And as a result of digitalization,
38:57 ECG's monthly revenue collections
39:00 have increased from 450 million Ghana cities a month
39:05 to 1.2 billion Ghana cities a month.
39:12 Ladies and gentlemen, Ghana has a major challenge
39:16 in the area of domestic revenue mobilization.
39:19 The tax to GDP ratio is about 14%,
39:23 compared to 27% for South Africa and 34%
39:28 for the advanced OECD countries.
39:31 Most adults in Ghana are outside the tax net
39:35 and compliance is very low.
39:37 At the beginning of 2017, only 4%, 4% of the population
39:43 of Ghana had tax identification numbers.
39:47 To increase the number of people with tax identification numbers,
39:52 I propose that we designate the Ghana car as the tax
39:56 identification number.
39:58 In doing this, we have increased the percentage
40:01 of adults with tax identification numbers
40:04 from 4% to 85%.
40:06 [CHEERING]
40:09 It is now incumbent on the GRA to use this database in tax
40:14 collection to broaden the tax net.
40:18 Furthermore, ladies and gentlemen,
40:20 with oversight from my office, the SNIP, National Health
40:25 Insurance, GRA, Controller and Accountant General Payroll,
40:29 DVLA, SIMCALF, and bank accounts have all
40:33 been linked to the NIA database, linked to the Ghana card.
40:39 Today, your SNIP number is your Ghana card number.
40:43 Your NHIS number is your Ghana card number.
40:46 Your TIN number is your Ghana card number.
40:51 The integration of the database is
40:54 allowing us to successfully weed out ghost workers on payroll.
41:00 A biometric audit of the National Service Scheme payroll
41:04 found about 44,707 ghost workers,
41:10 and potential ghost workers between 2022 and 2024.
41:16 And this has saved Ghana a total of 356 million Ghana cities.
41:23 Also, SNIT has suspended payment of 480 million Ghana cities
41:29 to 29,000 ghost pensioners using the Ghana card system.
41:35 Ladies and gentlemen, we have also recently
41:38 integrated the Controller and Accountant General Payroll
41:43 database with the NIA database to eliminate ghost workers
41:48 on government payroll.
41:50 Through digitalization, we have finally
41:52 been able to solve the longstanding problem of ghost
41:56 workers on government payroll.
41:59 Ladies and gentlemen, many people,
42:02 including highly educated people,
42:05 find the process of filing taxes complex.
42:10 To make it easier and less cumbersome to file taxes,
42:13 I challenge the GRE to come up with a simple to use mobile app
42:19 to enable ordinary people to file and pay taxes
42:23 using their mobile phones.
42:25 And this has been done.
42:27 Today, you can file your taxes 24 hours a day
42:33 on your mobile phone.
42:34 Ladies and gentlemen, in the area of health care,
42:42 digitalization of hospital medical records
42:46 to make health care easily accessible across the country,
42:51 we have overseen the connection of health facilities
42:55 under the Ghana Health Service onto one digital platform.
42:59 So far, all teaching hospitals, all regional hospitals,
43:04 and all district hospitals have been connected
43:07 and can talk to each other.
43:09 The goal is to network over 90% of all hospitals in Ghana
43:15 by the end of next year.
43:17 So currently, if you are referred
43:20 from a hospital like Tamale Teaching Hospital
43:23 to Kolebu Teaching Hospital, you do not
43:25 need to carry a folder.
43:27 All your records will be seen and monitored
43:30 by the doctor in Kolebu.
43:32 When you arrive, patients will have only one digital folder
43:38 wherever they go.
43:40 Your health records can be accessed 24 hours a day
43:44 from any of the 302 network hospitals.
43:50 Ladies and gentlemen, digitizing the operations
43:54 of the National Health Insurance Authority
43:57 has helped to reduce fraudulent claims.
44:00 The renewal of all National Health Insurance registrations
44:05 used to take place at various NHIA district offices.
44:11 This led to backlogs and long queues.
44:14 In some instances, people slept for days
44:17 at some district hospitals.
44:20 These delays hampered the operations
44:22 and limited the revenue streams of the NHIA.
44:27 With oversight from my office, we
44:29 have digitalized the enrollment and renewal of the National
44:33 Health Insurance membership.
44:35 Following digitalization, renewal of National Health
44:39 Insurance registration via mobile phone
44:42 can now take place 24 hours a day.
44:47 And this has eliminated the bottlenecks that were there.
44:52 I now come to drones.
44:55 Ladies and gentlemen, I remember with so much pain
45:01 when my father underwent an operation in Tamale Teaching
45:06 Hospital.
45:09 He was losing blood that night, and the doctors
45:14 were trying to get blood for him.
45:17 We rushed to the hospital blood bank, but it was closed.
45:22 I tried to get the phone number of the one in charge
45:25 and made several calls, but he did not pick up.
45:30 We were running against time, and by the morning,
45:34 my father had died.
45:37 That painful experience is forever with me.
45:41 So when I heard about Zipline drone [AUDIO OUT]
45:49 in an emergency, I was determined to get it for God,
45:54 to save many lives that are needlessly lost.
45:57 [APPLAUSE]
46:02 I went to Silicon Valley in the USA,
46:07 and I had a meeting with the co-founder of Zipline,
46:10 Robert Keller, and convinced him to set up Zipline in Ghana.
46:16 When I announced the imminent arrival of Zipline in Ghana,
46:21 our friends in the opposition said
46:23 that the drones were for taking pictures
46:26 of women in the apartments.
46:27 [APPLAUSE]
46:32 Ladies and gentlemen, previously, hospitals and clinics
46:38 in remote and likely rural communities,
46:41 like Nyangusra in Afajato South, Afram Plains, Yagaba, or Uyum,
46:47 had difficulty of getting medical supplies,
46:50 especially in times of emergencies involving snake
46:54 bites, childbirth, blood loss, floods, and so on.
46:59 Many lives are needlessly lost because the hospitals are
47:04 unable to access critically needed supplies on time.
47:09 To address this problem, Ghana opted
47:12 to partner Zipline, the world's largest automated on-demand
47:16 delivery service for medical supplies.
47:19 We've established six Zipline distribution centers
47:23 in Omanako in the eastern region,
47:25 Paya, Asante, Mampong, Vopsi in the northeast region,
47:29 Sekigui also, Kete Krakshi, Enum.
47:33 And Zipline has made millions of deliveries of medicines, blood,
47:38 and vaccines to many remote parts of Ghana
47:42 and has saved many lives.
47:45 Ladies and gentlemen, Zipline services
47:48 are available 24 hours a day.
47:52 [APPLAUSE]
47:54 I should add--
47:56 I should add rather proudly that Ghana is currently--
48:02 has the largest medical drone delivery
48:05 service in the whole world.
48:08 The whole world.
48:10 What is even more impressive--
48:12 more impressive is that the drone centers are 100%
48:19 manned by young, talented Ghanians.
48:22 They are manning all of the drones.
48:26 Ladies and gentlemen, in 2019, I challenged
48:30 the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana
48:32 during the annual meeting in Hulme to go digital and place
48:37 all pharmacies in Ghana on a digital platform
48:41 for ease of access by Ghanians.
48:44 The Pharmacy Council, in collaboration
48:46 with the private sector, has completed the work
48:49 on a digital platform for all pharmacies in Ghana.
48:54 Basically, the National Electronic Pharmacy Platform
48:58 will offer the opportunity for everybody,
49:01 through a mobile phone, to upload your prescriptions
49:05 and find out which pharmacies near you have the medicines.
49:09 Secondly, you can compare the prices
49:13 of the same drug offered by the different pharmacies
49:16 and decide where you want to order from.
49:18 And those orders will be delivered using
49:21 your digital address at home.
49:24 Ghanians will experience the e-pharmacy platform
49:28 in full operation this year, when
49:31 every pharmacy is onboarded.
49:33 E-pharmacy services will be available 24 hours a day.
49:41 Ladies and gentlemen, over the last seven years,
49:45 we have witnessed what some international observers have
49:50 described as an extraordinary digitalization
49:54 of the Ghanian economy.
49:56 But this extraordinary digitalization
49:59 has not happened in a vacuum.
50:01 We have had to put in place critical infrastructure
50:06 to support digitalization.
50:09 I should note that 93% of the NCA-licensed fiber optic cable
50:17 in Ghana--
50:18 the total licensed fiber optic cable is 7,234 kilometers.
50:25 But 93% of that was put in place since 2017.
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50:40 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
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50:45 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
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50:48 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
51:17 In response, with the support of the president,
51:20 I've had the honor and the privilege
51:23 to be given the opportunity to initiate, champion,
51:27 or oversee many problem-solving policy initiatives.
51:33 Many of these include many of the digitalization initiatives
51:37 that I have just discussed--
51:39 the no-guarantor student loans with the Ghana card,
51:42 one constituency, one ambulance, zip line drones, agenda 111,
51:49 the Sino-Hydro-Bata agreement, provision of hydroxyurea
51:54 for sickle cell patients, Zungo Development Fund, the Bank
51:58 of Ghana Gold Purchase Program, the Gold for Oil policy,
52:02 abolishing the filling of embarkation cars,
52:05 go-ride taxi service, the system to tackle ghost names
52:10 on the private railroad, and many more.
52:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
52:18 (upbeat music)