The Ghanaian government plans to construct and implement 1,006 telecom sites during this year to improve mobile service coverage in the country, especially in rural areas. This was revealed by Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalization, during a press conference on Sunday February 18.

These telecom sites are part of the “Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion” project unveiled in November 2020 by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) in order to “reduce the digital divide” by strengthening basic telephony services in rural areas. rural areas. It benefits in particular from the technical support of the Chinese company Huawei, as well as the financial support of the China Exim Bank which granted the government funding of $155 million in 2020.

Of the planned 2,016 telecom sites, 1,010 have already been constructed and 618 are already operational, Ms Owusu-Ekuful said. This already allows citizens in around 1,620 rural communities to make calls and use data services. Ultimately, the project targets around 4 million people.

According to the latest statistics from the National Communications Authority (NCA), Ghana had 38.4 million mobile subscribers in the first quarter of 2023 for a penetration rate of 120.2%. The number of subscribers to mobile Internet services stood at 22.6 million, or approximately 71% of the population. However, the actual numbers are expected to be lower, given that some people have multiple SIM cards.

Source: Agency EcoFin