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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, while speaking at the launch of two new high-level information technology programmes at the Accra Business School at Baatsona in Accra, declared his choice of the Ghana Card over road interchanges in the country’s quest for development.

According to him, Ghanaians do not fully appreciate the digitalisation drive by the government but the government is poised to pursue the agenda as a vehicle to transform the economy.

He said the government has been able to solve many problems that have faced Ghanaians through digitalisation.

Citing the roll-out of a National Identification System, the Ghana Card, Dr. Bawumia said its relevance cannot be overemphasized.

Dr Bawumia noted that the national identity card, also known as Ghana Card, is more beneficial than the numerous interchanges constructed across the country.

“Some of the problems go back to independence. We inherited a problem of no unique national identification system. This has been with us since independence. We had implemented a national identification system for the Ghana Card. Today, we have 16 million Ghanaians with unique identities, and that is a major transformation. A lot of people sometimes do not appreciate its impact.

“If you gave me 1000 interchanges and the Ghana Card, I would choose the Ghana Card because it has more impact,” Dr Mahamudu Bawumia said.

He explained further that the Ghana card has made life simpler, “for instance, with the Ghana card, students can now access loans without guarantors.”

Ghana card

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's administration relaunched the Ghana Card registration on Friday, September 15, 2017.

The card according to the government will serve as a unique identifier for both resident and non-resident Ghanaians as well permanently resident foreign nationals.

Currently, the card serves as an electronic passport and SSNIT card with the Bank of Ghana also announcing that the card will be the only approved card for all bank transactions in the country.

The National Communication Authority (NCA), on the other hand, has asked citizens to re-register their SIM Cards with their Ghana Cards.

Ghana Card as E-passport

Dr Bawumia recently announced that the roll-out of the Ghana Card fully met the requirements for an E-passport, despite a rejection by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

This claim was shot down by Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Foreign Affairs Minister.

She told Parliamentarians that the processes for the acceptance of the Ghana card as a source document for international travel have not been finalised yet.