The Minister for Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, announcing government’s intention to support the EC, said the exercise could cost over $80 million.
“Though the cost might be a little high, it is not more than the cost of disputed elections, and addresses the issue of multiple voting to make our elections more credible”, the Minister said in an interview after opening a two day conference for IT professionals in Accra.
He said: "It is our hope that it will improve our financial services, improve the health services and the educational system and transform the agriculture sector through value addition."
Vice President Mahama lauded the steady growth of telecommunication services in Ghana with over 17 million subscribers, giving a teledensity of 75 percent compared to less than three per cent in 1997.
Read more: GH: Vice President Launches Glo 1 Fibre-Optic Cable
The Glo 1 facility has been built with leading technologies backed by Globacom and Alcatel-Lucent and is set to transform the country’s communications landscape and present Ghanaian businesses with new opportunities of bridging the digital gap between Ghana and the rest of the world.
The 9,800km long submarine cable network, the first project of its kind to be executed entirely by a single organisation, berthed on the beaches of Osu in Accra.
"We are happy to announce that the wait is over and the Glo 1 is now ready to go live. The relevant tests have been concluded and the facility is now ready to carry traffic," Mr Adewale Sangowawa, Executive Director, Globacom told journalists ahead of the launch later on Friday.
He said apart from other benefits, the ETLS would accelerate the pace of industrialisation in the sub-region and pledged the Chamber's commitment to assist enterprises with their applications to obtain ECOWAS status for their products.
Mr Adjei-Baah was speaking at a press launch of the automation of the process of issuing certificate of origin to cover exports from Ghana.
Read more: GH: GNCCI begins automation of issuance of Certificate of Origin next week