UNDP, GSMA, Others Leverages on Mobile Tech to Promote SDGs

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with GSMA and British Government has engaged the Government of Ghana (GOG) to harness the power of mobile technology towards the achievement of all 17 Goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Speaking at a roundtable discussion on the Ghana National Dialogue for Digital Transformation, the Minister of Communications, Madam Ursula Owusu indicated that Ghana is on the verge of transitioning from the traditional economy to a digital economy using the power of mobile technology.

“This meeting will enable us to look at the various ways in which mobile can enable digital transformation of the economy. The issues is how to scale up the digital financial services moving away from the cash-led community to a cashless which enables us grow up our businesses, reduce corruption and facilitate e-Payments which are all key to the transformation of our economy,” she stated.

The sector minister indicated that the conclusion was that every goal in the SGDs can be achieved faster by using mobile technology in every aspect of our lives.

“We agree that within the next three years it should be possible for everyone to be included to facilitate not just financial inclusion but social and economic aspect of the country,” she noted.

Mrs. Owusu indicated that the mobile internet usage which is about 56percent is very worrying adding that they are all working to ensure that they increase the internet usage using other experience that exist to push the agenda.

According to her, one of the key agenda is to drive greater infrastructure sharing and how to drive down the cost of data for the benefit of the end user to make them become more addicted to their phones and internet usage in a much more positive way.

She intimated that there was also the need to make mobile devices available for all children as tools for facilitating teaching and learning in schools.

The objective of the Ghana National Dialogue for Digital Transformation Roundtable aims to convene CEOs of mobile operators and senior policy makers from across government to identify solutions for priority national development challenges through mobile technologies in Ghana.