Josiah
A high-level bilateral discussion addressing the significance of digitalization in a modern economy took place on Wednesday afternoon in Tallinn, Estonia, between Ghana, recognized as Africa’s fastest digitizing country, and Estonia, renowned as one of the world’s most digitized nations.
The Ghanaian delegation, headed by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a key figure in Ghana’s remarkable digital transformation, engaged in talks with Estonian President Alar Karis on Wednesday afternoon during a three-day working visit to Estonia. Subsequently, the delegation also met with Prime Minister Ms Kaja Kallas and other officials, including Luukas Ilves, Undersecretary for Digital Transformation at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
Dr. Bawumia’s visit to Estonia, a global leader in digital economic transformation, aimed to explore the Northern European country’s success story in digitalization compared to Ghana’s own digitalization journey, establishing Ghana as a reference point in Africa.
During discussions with the Estonian leadership, the hosts highlighted their country’s two-decade investment in digitalization and its significant role in economic transformation. Dr. Bawumia reciprocated by sharing Ghana’s digitalization progress over the past seven years, emphasizing its positive impact on combating corruption, simplifying processes for the public, and enhancing government revenue.
Despite Estonia being ahead of Ghana in its digitalization journey, the two countries share striking similarities in their approaches. Estonia’s e-Estonia, akin to Digital Ghana, features a national identification system, an addressing system, online government services, and financial inclusion.
Both nations base their digital identity systems on a mandatory national ID card, such as the Ghanacard and Estonia’s digital national identity card, which can be used as a digital signature without the person being physically present.
Estonia’s e-Government service, offering over 100 public services online, mirrors Ghana’s Ghana.Gov online platform. Services like filling forms online, paying fines, booking appointments with doctors, checking license and insurance expiry dates, and filing tax returns are available in both digital ecosystems.
Another shared success story is financial inclusion. In Estonia, 99% of bank transfers are electronically made using a mobile phone or computer, leveraging the national ID card or Mobile-ID. Similarly, in Ghana, mobile money interoperability has become a predominant method for financial transactions.
Dr. Bawumia and the delegation are scheduled to engage in further discussions with Estonian authorities on Thursday and Friday.
Source: Omanghana.com
