Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia with Estonian President Alar Karis
A high-powered Ghanaian delegation led by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, met with an Estonian government official on Wednesday in Talheim, a German municipality, to discuss the relevance of digitalisation in today’s economy.
The delegation which includes Ghana’s Ambassador to Germany, Gina Ama Blay, is on a three-day working visit to Estonia to learn more about the country’s incredible digitalisation narrative.
Ghana is on a digitalisation journey, which has set it apart as a reference point in Africa.
Vice President Dr. Bawumia, who led Ghana’s remarkable digital transformation, first spoke with the Estonian President, Alar Karis, before meeting with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and other officials, including Luukas Ilves, Undersecretary for Digital Transformation and Government Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
At all meetings with the Estonian President, Prime Minister, and Ministry of Economic Affairs, the hosts explained how the country’s investment in digitalisation and their commitment to implementing digitalisation, had resulted in a tremendous economic revolution over the last two decades.
Dr. Bawumia, on the other hand, recounted Ghana’s digitalisation story during the last seven years, and how it is benefiting the country, particularly in fighting corruption, making things easier for people, and impacting positively on government revenue.
Interestingly, while being years ahead of Ghana in its digitalisation journey, Estonia’s digitalisation, known as e-Estonia, shows remarkable similarities with Digital Ghana in areas such as national identification, addressing systems, online government services, and financial inclusion.
Like the Ghana Card, e-Estonia is based on a digital national identity card system that is required for all Estonian citizens, and may also be used as a digital signature without the person’s presence.
The Estonian national ID serves as a catalyst for everything, including filing tax returns, booking train tickets, banking, and even voting, just as the Ghana Card serves as the foundation for many things in Ghana, including banking and obtaining government services such as passports, driver’s licences, social security, travel documents, and so on.
Another resemblance between e-Estonia and Digital Ghana is Estonia’s well-known e-Government service, which has moved many public services online, just like the Ghana.Gov online platform.
Estonia’s e-Government platform offers online access to over 100 public services, including form filling, fine payments, doctor appointments, licence and insurance renewals, and tax returns, similar to Ghana’s.
Financial inclusion is another digital success story that Digital Ghana shares with e-Estonia. It is estimated that 99% of bank transfers in Estonia are conducted electronically on a smartphone or a computer using the national ID card, or mobile ID, and, like in Ghana, mobile money interoperability has become the most popular method of financial transaction.
A Daily Guide Report