Ghana unveils plan to tackle high data costs

Minister of Communications, Samuel Nartey George, has announced the formation of an inter-ministerial committee to address the high cost of data in Ghana.

Speaking on a Ghanaian national TV, the minister confirmed that directives had already been issued to the Communications Ministry, with the committee set to be established within 14 days.

“Yesterday, I met the director and management of the ministry, and I’ve given them the running order. Hopefully, within the next 14 days, we’ll be setting up an inter-ministerial committee to look at the cost of data,” he told Joynews.

Expressing his commitment to reducing data costs, the minister-designate assured Ghanaians that they would begin to see changes before the end of the year. “At my vetting, I said that it is my fervent belief that before the end of this year, we should see some movements in the data offerings,” he affirmed.

Sam George emphasized that his policy approach is rooted in extensive stakeholder engagement, particularly with telecom operators and regulators.

“Even before I sat at my vetting to announce this as policy, I had engaged all the telecom CEOs. I’m going to be a minister who will engage industry. I won’t announce a policy without engaging industry and getting their buy-in,” he assured.

Describing his leadership as a “reset” for Ghana’s digital economy, he pledged to ensure that industry players are involved in key decisions. “I told them, it’s a new dawn. It’s a reset. And so I engaged personally, every single chief executive and the chamber as well to get their understanding of what I want to do and secure their buy-in before announcing it,” he added.