Samuel Nartey George, Minister of Communications, has announced plans to set up an inter-ministerial commission to investigate and address Ghana’s high data costs.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Sam George said that he has already directed the Communications Ministry’s administration to begin the process, with the committee anticipated to be formed within the next 14 days.
“I met with the director and management of the ministry yesterday and gave them the running order. Hopefully, within the next 14 days, we’ll be forming an inter-ministerial group to investigate the cost of data,” he said.
The minister-designate underlined his commitment to reduce data costs, expressing confidence that Ghanaians will see results 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,” according to him.
Sam George also stated that his policy recommendations will be informed by consultations with important stakeholders, including telecom operators and industry regulators.
“Even before I sat down to declare this as policy, I had contacted all of the telecom CEOs. I’m going to be a minister who engages industry. “I will not announce a policy without first engaging the industry and obtaining their support,” he stated.
He also defined his leadership style as a reset for Ghana’s digital economy, ensuring that decisions are made in consultation with industry stakeholders.
“I told them there was a new dawn. It’s a restart. And so I engaged individually with every single chief executive and the chamber to obtain their knowledge of what I want to achieve and secure their buy-in before announcing it,” he continued.
