Stakeholders in Ghana’s digital space have called for financial, infrastructure, and human capacity development support to commercialise products and services by innovators in the country.
That, together with strong partnerships, would help transform Ghana’s digital space, leading to the creation of sustainable income earning jobs, especially, for the youth, and contribute to economic stability and social development.
The call was made at the end of the third Ghana Digital and Innovation Week (GDIW) in Accra, which had innovators from France, Germany, and other West African countries in attendance.
The World Bank describes Ghana as a leader in Sub-Saharan Africa in the Digital Economy, indicating that the sectors had grown on average by 19 per cent per year between 2014 and 2020.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Ms Amma Lartey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Impact Investing Ghana, said many Ghanaians were creating products and services in the digital ecosystem to solve everyday needs.
She ca
lled for increased financial support for innovations, noting that it would spur commercialisation by ensuring integration of the digital ecosystem in Ghana.
‘This will improve quality of life of citizens, deliver sustainable jobs for the youth, and strengthen socio-economic development through diversification,’ she explained.
Ms Lartey said commercialisation of innovations would require consistency and clarity in policies, licencing regimes, funding, seamless access to information, and teams with the capacity to sell the volumes of products and services.
Mr Michael Abbiw, Business Development and Marketing Strategist, also called on government, development partners, and financial sector actors to provide the needed support to ensure that Ghanaian innovations were commercialised.
‘All of us must be in one space – we have the ministries and agencies doing separate things, as well as the private sector. It will be good, for example, to integrate the national innovations challenge into the GDIW,’ he said.
‘W
hen we do this, all the programmes will benefit each other, and holistically, we will develop, as our innovations support national and global sustainable development,’ Mr Abbiw said.
In a speech at the event, Mr Kwamena Essilfie Quayson, Director Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MESTI), said digital technology could transform lives, drive economic growth and offer opportunities for all
He called on all value chain players to collaborate with various government agencies to ensure that Ghanaian innovations were well-developed as the sought-after for development solutions across the world.
Mr Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, CEO, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), called for collaborations to sustain the Ghana Digital and Innovation Week.
‘GDIW is the market centre, where we can sell our wares – it provides the opportunity to meet with decision makers; government, academia and industry, and it’s important that we keep the commitment going forward
,’ he said.
The GDIW is trilateral partnership programme between Ghana, Germany and Israel that provides a platform for various actors to learn, share ideas and create connections to enhance the progress of the digital landscape.
Prior to the three-day event in Accra, three conferences were held in the Northern, Eastern, and Ashanti regions, as part of efforts for decentralisation, and wider reach.
At the end of the event, government committed to making it easier for start-ups to become critical service providers in the country, with MTN Ghana, IMPC, and Green Exploration Labs, and GIZ, all pledging continued support for the event.