Ghana will have the first blockchain-powered government in Africa.

At the 14th Regional Conference and Annual General Meeting of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, held in Accra, Bawumia disclosed this information.

Blockchain technology is frequently hailed as revolutionary in several fields, including international politics. This technology offers a visible and verifiable record of transactions inside the governance space by detecting and recording any changes made to digital data.

According to Ghanaweb, Bawumia thinks that this development will encourage openness and make it possible for the government to successfully fight corruption.

The automated capabilities of the technology might prevent billions of dollars from being squandered by Ghana and the continent as a result of corruption, poor leadership, poor management, and a lack of accountability.

Ghana is now experiencing a debt crisis amid other economic difficulties, highlighting the significance of maintaining accountability and stopping the abuse of public funds to stabilize the economy.

Ghana’s transformation due to digitalization

Speaking of the digital projects the government has undertaken since 2017, Bawumia brought up the ghana.gov portal, which serves as a one-stop shop for electronic public service payments and has allowed the government to receive GH¢201 billion since 2020.

Likewise, the digitalization of passport application procedures led to a massive surge in applications at the Passport Office, which went from 347,000 to 752,000. Additionally, from 2018 and 2023, sales increased from GH¢12 million to GH¢94 million.

The Controller and Accountant General’s Department was able to eliminate 29,000 “ghost” pensioners from the public sector payroll through the integration of public sector databases utilizing the GhanaCard. This amounted to an annual savings of GH¢480 million for the nation.

The government saved GH¢356 million by identifying 44,707 ghost names on the National Service Scheme payroll by using the GhanaCard, a unique identity card.

He called for Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa to put digital forensics and tools at the top of their list of priorities to help them track down, trace, and destroy the corruption value chain.

The Vice President emphasized that if the Central Bank eventually unveiled the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), popularly known as the e-Cedi, Ghana could combat corruption more effectively.

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