IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The World Bank Group today approved 40 million dollars loan to support the Government of Ghana to implement selected components of the its Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Accelerated Development Policy.

This policy was completed a few years ago and adopted into Ghana’s Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II.

With the increasing threat of cyber crimes to Ghana's aim of becoming the hub of the information superhighway on the west coast of Africa, the government has drafted the Electronic Transactions Bill to protect private rights of Internet users and owners' websites.

Ghana has witnessed lately an upsurge in cyber crimes arising from the use of the Internet to perpetrate unimaginable economic crimes.

… and support for public sector reform programme

The Minister of Public Sector Reforms, Dr. Paa Kwesi Ndoum, has underscored the need to urgently and vigorously improve the effectiveness of national and internal institutions in order to improve on competencies and institutional capacity.

A draft policy document expected to define specifications governing information flow across government and the public sector is being facilitated by the Ministry of Communications, Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Deputy Minister, said on Tuesday. Dubbed the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) Policy, it is aimed at enhancing the judicious use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the country.

The policy would also allow electronic information and transactions to "operate seamlessly across agencies and jurisdictions". Dr Ntim was speaking at the launch of the 10th West Africa Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Exhibition and Conference (AITEC), in Accra on the theme: "Using ICT as a tool for Information and Knowledge Management."