The Akufo-Addo administration has secured a €155-million facility from China for the Rural Telephony Project being implemented.
The project under the supervision of the Ministry of Communications forms part of efforts by the government to promote digital inclusion as well as reduce the gap in the digital divide through the provision of basic voice and data connectivity to underserved areas across the country.
Announcing the development on Wednesday during the launch of a Rural Telephony Project at New Edubiase in the Ashanti Region, President Akufo-Addo said: “Network connectivity in the 21st Century has become a basic necessity of life just like water or electricity.”
However, he bemoaned “some 30 percent of our country’s residents live in rural areas with little or no access to information and communications technology, that’s widening the digital divide.”
As a result, the government had secured a €155-million facility from the China Exim Bank to finance this telephony extension project.
“I’m reliably informed that the Huawei Rural Stark technology being used for this project was developed due to the incessant pressure from the dynamic minister for Communications, the Honourable Ursula Owusu and it entails some 50 percent savings on the cost of traditional cell sites. This makes the project both economical and financially feasible and will therefore generate good returns on investment,” the President stated.
It is expected that the Rural Telephony Project will ensure that 3 million Ghanaians are connected to other parts of the country and the world in general.
The project will also provide new areas for ICT growth in Ghana while raising substantially the level of ICT literacy especially during this COVID-19 era where the need for and demand for ICT skills has increased exponentially, said Akufo-Addo.
