Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia Wednesday unveiled the Ghana.Gov portal to boost government’s revenue collection and improve access to government services at the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the local assemblies.
It is a payment and revenue collection portal that provides a single point of access to all services and can be accessed online at www.ghana.gov.gh or by dialling the shortcode *222# on any mobile phone.
The platform was developed in two years by local financial technology companies-Hubtel, ExpressPay and IT Consortium, working in consultation with the Office of the Vice President and Ministries of Finance and Communication.
It was piloted in June 2020 with some 5.8 million transactions with government raking in GH¢3.7 billion in revenue as at June, this year.
Ghana loses millions of cedis annually through revenue leakages, bribery and corruption, with the 2017 Auditor-General’s report indicating that the State lost over two billion Ghana cedis in revenue.
The portal is, therefore, expected to block those loopholes.
Vice President Bawumia, launching the digital portal at the Jubilee House, the seat of Government, in Accra, said the country anticipated to derive expense savings of approximately GH¢40 million a year as a result of the roll-out of the platform.
The unveiling of the platform, Dr Bawumia said, would be a catalyst for on-boarding all MDAs by the end of the year, to enhance efficiency and transparency of all government services and revenue mobilization.
The Vice-President noted that a 2017 ‘Better-Than-Cash Alliance’ report indicated that Ghana could save more than GH¢250 million a year by having more cash-lite economy.
The roll-out of the electronic platform will involve 20 banks and expected to create more than 1,000 jobs for the youth.
It will improve the country’s global ranking in ease-of-doing-business and ultimately boost her Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) drive.
Source:
GNA
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