Speaking at the launch, President Akufo-Addo expressed the hope that this new address database will create an avenue for new businesses, and aid systematic revenue collection by the likes the Ghana Water Company and local government.

The President said he expected the relevant institutions to “liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Ghana Post, who are the custodians and administrators of the system, to leverage on this technology to enhance their operations.”

The system, which was designed by Ghanaian information technology firm, Vokacom, will provide every Ghanaian with an effective means of addressing every location and place in the country, using an information technology application.

The lack of an efficient addressing system forces Ghanaians to develop a culture of relying on directions from people navigating areas via basic landmarks like shops, drains or electricity poles in some cases.

This state of affairs becomes more precarious when lives are on the line as first responders in emergency situations find navigation difficult.

Thus, the President highlighted how critical this technology would be for emergency responders like the police and ambulance services, introducing prospects for levels of timeliness and efficiency which is lacking in Ghana.

“Law enforcement agencies can easily assess addresses more effectively in order to deal with crime. Health, fire and ambulance services can effectively locate property locations in order to save lives at a faster rate,” President Akufo-Addo said.

He also noted the role the addressing card would play in the implementation of the Ghana Card and said it was his hope that “all individuals and properties will be able to obtain their own unique addresses as we strive to build a credible national address register.”

President Akufo-Addo further assured that his government will provide the required leadership to promote Ghanaian-made technology like the Ghana Post GPS.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Nana Addo launches Ghana’s Digital Property Address System appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The system is expected to among other things aid government policies, planning and offer accurate data for service delivery.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9tXCDfwfkhOyVj6KC5OwPVe7Vw3oBugC”] The system, which was designed by Ghanaian information technology firm, Vokacom, will provide an effective means of addressing every location and place in the country, using an information technology application.

Following the lack of an efficient addressing system, Ghanaians have become accustomed to relying on directions from people as well as land marks such as kiosks, mobile money vendors among others.

Citi Business News caught up with some people ahead of the launch to find out how they believe it will impact their movement within the country.

Ethel, one of them, said she believes the system will be of great benefit to Ghanaians.

“It is a good thing that government is rolling out today, it will help people to locate various locations around the country, I for one have been lost on several occasions and I have had to spend a lot on transportation on the occasions I was lost before getting to my final destination”, she said.

Kwame, who also spoke to Citi Business News, also believes the system will be beneficial in locating places accurately.

“It’s a good initiative; at least we are advancing from where we currently are as a country. I mean I have been lost before and spent half of my day trying to find my destination and it was very frustrating so if this addressing system will help me locate my destinations easily, then it is a good thing.”

But unlike Ethel and Kwame, who believe the system will be of benefit to all Ghanaians, others like Peter expressed doubts that the system will work effectively and serve its purpose.

“This is Ghana, so what they will do is to introduce a new initiative and along the line, it will stop working, so let’s see how effective this addressing system will be”, he said.

Among the numerous benefits of the addressing system is the potential to reduce the rise in the non-performing loans of banks which has been partly attributed to the difficulty in locating customers.

Head of Consumer Banking of Ecobank, Tara Squire, who spoke to Citi Business News, said he believes the system will turnaround the economy as the lack of an efficient addressing system has been a serious impediment for businesses and financial institutions.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction to ensure that businesses and banks know who our customers, we need that information to be able to lend, it’s a step in the right direction to be able to lend. it’s a step in the right direction that we have an address system that we can rely on and therefore we are very keen on supporting it in every way to ensure that the system is a success because it will help us know you, and it is easier for financial institutions to have interactions with customers.”

Head of E business and Card Services with ADB Bank, Solomon Adu Atefoe, was also of the view that the system will benefit financial institutions.

“This particular system is very critical because it helps financial institutions solve all the KYC issues.Gone are the days where you will ask customers to bring along their ECG or water bills all to prove where they actually live, so now that we are going to have a digital addressing system via an app, we will just need people to give us their geographical location, and with that we can locate their collaterals and whatever they are bringing to secure loans as we will be able to evaluate them at a record time so this is really a blessing to the financial sector.”
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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Digital Property Address System to be launched today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to them, the move will aggravate the already “perilous woes of tertiary students who are undeniably overburdened with extortionate cost of education in the country.”

Government has directed the public universities and polytechnics to pay their own utility bills; hence, public universities are deciding to pass the utility costs on to the students.

But a statement signed by the SRC executives of UDS stated that the plight of the Ghanaian student is worsening and “this move will further create a bleak future for our educational system.”

Below is the full statement

GOVERNMENT SHOULD RECONSIDER ITS DECISION TO REMOVE SUBSIDIES ON UTILITY BILLS FOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Governance is all about taking decisions to better the life’s of people, but when those decisions are rather going to worsen the situation and make the cost of education expensive, then we have to be circumspect and proper introspection as well as due diligence must be done to ensure that our living conditions are not exacerbated.

Our notice was drawn to the fact that Government is contemplating of removing all forms of subsidies and Subventions to Public Tertiary Institutions in the country especially the various Public Universities, they have started with Utilities Bills, a move that will only but succeed in aggravating the already perilous woes of tertiary students who are undeniably overburdened with extortionate cost of education in the country.

This Utility Bills will be transferred to Students and hence each Student will pay averagely an additional GH¢ 350.00 for Non-Residents and GH¢450.00 for Residents in addition to his or her fees.

Last academic Year, First Year Students pay GH¢1,092.00 as their admission fees. Ceteris Paribus, this year Students will pay GH¢1,542.00 and GH¢1442.00 without cost of Accommodation, cost of food, cost of Handouts etc.

This could serve as a deterrent to prospective University Applicant considering the cost involve. If aggresses remain as they are, then we fear of a low intake in the upcoming potential applicants. Government should consider proroguing its decisions.

This current position of Government will go against the backdrop of which University for Development Studies was established. UDS was established to make University Education accessible and affordable to the People in the North and the country at large.

We are therefore pleading with Government to re-consider its decision regarding the removal of these subsidies and subventions on tertiary Institutions.

The plight of the Ghanaian Student is worsening and this move will further create a bleak future to our educational system.

Ofosu Emmanuel                  SRC President, UDS                          

Hubert Adehokey Elorm       SRC, Vice President, UDS                

Mensah Enoch McRoyal,       Local NUGS President, UDS          

Karikari Kwabena Julius        PRO, SRC UDS                               

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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