The Head of Operations for Tech in Ghana, Ms. Deborah David has stated that her outfit creates a common platform to engage big tech firms around the world.
Ms. David revealed further that, Tech in Ghana is a platform that makes players come together and streamline the Technology sector and learn new technologies which emerged.
She made this known in an interview during the 10th edition of the Tech in Ghana conference held in the Accra Digital Centre with a call on Ghanaians to embrace technology.
The main objective of the conference is to connect all the technological industries in Ghana, network, and improve their operations.
The Tech in Ghana platform according to Deborah David, also facilitate information flow on the challenges in the sector such as fraud and the lack of opportunities and commitment from policymakers.
She, therefore, entreated multilateral companies who want to build capacity in the tech sector to contact Tech in Ghana to learn, network, and meet players who have the capacity to improve the sector.
Mr. Russ Shaw, the Founder of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates averred that his organisation is in Ghana to help tech companies and tech ecosystems nurture tech leaders, entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and corporate universities to drive growth.
“We like to connect these leaders to the other parts of the world because, London is a leader in technology and the same is the US, my role is to connect these hubs and ecosystems to grow and progress”.
Ghana Mr. Russ mentioned, has the product and the digital capabilities to ensure that the entire nation is banked and supported by fintech processes.
“I believe that with these innovations, in the next five years, these economic challenges will be over because history has taught us that sometimes the best innovations come out from difficult circumstances so, I think the next wave of innovation is going to come from Ghana”.
Mr. Russ Shaw said the fintech ecosystem in Ghana was vibrant and strong saying, this is because the innovation is in the country.
“I think the challenge is internet penetration but we have heard this morning that about 30% of the population have access to the internet”.
Mr. Martin Kwame Awagah, President of the Fintech and Payment Association of Ghana on his part said, there are a lot of challenges in the fintech industry. “These challenges are gradually becoming buzzers in the financial services in relation to investment and startups because there are over 100 fintech companies operating in Ghana and about 70% of these lacks the startup capital.”
Mr. Awagah pointed out that, it is difficult for startups to acquire licensing because the regime in the country requires some level of integrity capital which ranges from GHC800.00 to GHC 2000.00 which a lot of the startups cannot meet the requirements.
He also mentioned the knowledge gap as another challenge indicating that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a slowdown of financial technologies where people with fintech knowledge cannot leverage the opportunities in the space.
Mrs. Adoma Peprah of Visa Ghana also said Visa operates through digital payment platforms which serve as the gateway to pay and be paid everywhere through technology.
“We encourage payment via point-of-sale devices and e-commerce. E-commerce is growing in bounds after the pandemic. So, there were so many issues in that sector but it grew and became the only platform for payment and accessibility”.
The event brought together players in the tech ecosystem across the world and from some of the biggest multinational brands in the world, alongside the West African sub-regions decision-makers, investors, fastest-growing scale-ups, and founders.
Tech in Ghana since launching in 2017, has attracted some biggest multinational brands in the world, alongside the region’s decision-makers, founders, investors, and fastest-growing scale-ups.
Source: William Sarpong
