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With a few months until Ghana’s crucial election in Dec. 2024, candidates consistently share their visions in the hope that citizens will vote for them. At the University of Professional Studies in Accra on Feb. 7, 2024, the Vice President and presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, addressed the nation. He outlined his vision statements and touched on some programmes his party would implement if they were retained for a historic third term.
The programme, attended by high-profile party members, including former President John Kufuor, attracted a huge media coverage both mainstream and online. The full speech delivered by Dr Bawumia can also be found here.
As part of DUBAWA’s efforts to promote truthful and factual public discourse and fight misinformation and disinformation, our team of fact-checkers has fact-checked some of Dr Bawumia’s claims.
Ghana’s internet penetration in 2016 was 28%, not 34%.
Fact-checker: A. Kwabena Brakopowers
Claim 1: Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the current Vice President of Ghana, says internet penetration in the West African country has increased from 34% in 2016 to an impressive 72% in 2023.
Verdict: This is false. Contrary to Dr Bawumia’s claim, data available to DUBAWA showed Ghana’s internet penetration rose from 28% in 2016 and not 34% to 76% in 2023, the World Bank, Statista, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and Internet Lives Stat have revealed. According to Internet Lives Stat, out of the total population of 28,033,375 in 2016, there were about 7,958,675 internet users in Ghana.
Full Text
The Vice President of Ghana and the 2024 Presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has promised to move the internet penetration rate in the West African country from 72% to 100% when elected as President in Dec. 2024.
The Vice President told the party faithful:
“We have already made significant progress in this direction by increasing internet penetration from 34% in 2016 to 72% in 2023 (by more than double!!!). In the next four years, the task is to move from 72% to close to 100%! It is possible!”
His comment is contained in paragraph 125 of his speech, which was broadcast to Ghanaians and streamed on the social media handles of the deputy Ghanaian leader.
Verification
Data available to DUBAWA has shown Ghana’s internet penetration rose from 28% in 2016 to 68% in 2023. The World Bank, Statista, and Internet Lives Stat pegged the country’s internet penetration in 2016 to 28%.
According to Internet Lives Stat, this figure is equivalent to about 7,958,675 out of the total population of 28,033,375 internet users in West Africa. However, approximately 20,074,700 Ghanaians are non-internet users (internetless), the researchers, developers, and analysts at Internet Lives Stat have said.
Also, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has disclosed that the internet penetration rate of the Ghana population will be 76% in 2023. The global body, in its eTrade Readiness Assessment of Ghana published in 2023, said of the West African country:
“Massive investments and efforts have been made by the Government of Ghana, with substantial achievements. According to data from NCA, regarding the development of ICT infrastructures and access to the Internet, actions from MOCD, through NITA, have enabled the Internet penetration rate to reach 76 per cent of the Ghanaian population in 2023.”
DUBAWA, however, discovered that the 72% internet penetration figure quoted by Dr Bawumia was first announced by the Deputy Director General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), Prof. Ezer Osei Yeboah-Boateng when he told a gathering in early 2023 that internet “penetration rate [is] now at 71.94%.” A cursory look at the story shows that the Deputy DG of the NCA did not give any source for his claim.
However, his announcement was made after Statista had revealed that the internet penetration in Ghana as of the beginning of 2023 was 68%. The data by Statista was confirmed by the Data Report, which disclosed that the internet penetration in the country stood at “68.2 per cent of the total population at the start of 2023.”
DataReportal, a study published with the support of various partners, including We Are Social and Meltwater, said in its Feb. 13, 2024, report titled “Digital 2023: Ghana” that:
“There were 23.05 million internet users in Ghana at the start of 2023 when internet penetration stood at 68.2 per cent.”
Conclusion
Contrary to Dr Bawumia’s claim, data available to DUBAWA showed Ghana’s internet penetration rose from 28% in 2016 and not 34% to 76% in 2023 and not 72%, the World Bank, Statista, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and Internet Lives Stat have revealed.
Fact-checker: Nathaniel Kyere Bekoe
Claim 2: Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 flagbearer of the NPP, has announced that Ghana is ranked number one in Africa in terms of access to financial inclusion.
Verdict: This is misleading. Both the 2022 and 2023 editions of The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Report that Dr Bawumia referenced did not rank Ghana as first for access to financial inclusion in Africa. According to the reports published by the African-led group AfricaNenda, the West African country and two other African countries are “on their way to achieving a mature state of inclusivity.” However, Ghana and Kenya have been grouped under the Leading Cluster category, with the other African countries surveyed placed in either the Emerging Cluster or Nascent Cluster.
Full Text
Ghana’s Vice President and the 2024 Presidential candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has told Ghanaians the government’s digitisation efforts are yielding fruits in the country and across Africa.
“We basically solved the problem of financial exclusion in Ghana. The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Report has ranked Ghana as number one in Africa regarding access to financial inclusion!” the former Deputy Governor of Ghana said in paragraph 71 of page 25 of his report.
The Ghanaian economist cited The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Report produced by an independent, African-led organisation, AfricaNenda. The group was created to accelerate the growth of instant and inclusive payment systems in Africa.
Verification
DUBAWA reviewed both the 2022 and 2023 editions of The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems Report (SIIPS) and found no evidence suggesting Ghana was number one in Africa in terms of access to financial inclusion, as alluded to by Dr Bawumia.
According to the SIIPS Report 2022 (page 36), Kenya and Ghana are in a category called Leading Cluster in Africa because they have progressed with Instant Payment Systems. The report reveals that the proportion of the population using digital payments was 78% and 66% for Kenya and Ghana, respectively. The report did not, however, put Ghana ahead of Kenya or any other country in terms of access to Inclusive Instant Payment Systems.
Also, DUBAWA discovered that The State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems Report, 2023, focused on other countries in the emerging cluster. As a result, the figures published in the SIIPS annual report for 2022 for Ghana and Kenya were repeated in the report for 2023. However, the report highlighted that 86% and 82% of individuals in Ghana and Kenya use digital payments, respectively.
On page 42 of the 2023 report, AfricaNenda noted that:
“The five progressed IPS are all on their way to the mature level. These include four domestic systems covering three countries (Ghana, Malawi, and Zambia) and one regional system serving six (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon).
As a result, nine countries have access to progressed IIPS functionality as of 2023. However, the two systems in Ghana have plans to roll out an expanded set of use cases, bringing them closer to maturity. Transparent consumer recourse mechanisms remain the most complex element to implement.”
The 2023 report further noted on page 98 that:
“The IPS ecosystem in Ghana supports a broad range of use cases. However, it does not enable effective oversight of recourse mechanisms provided by participants. Effective consumer recourse mechanisms are the most complex element to implement—and thus progress to a mature ranking.”
Conclusion
The 2022 and 2023 editions of The State of Inclusive Instant Payment System Reports published by AfricaNenda did not rank Ghana ahead of any African country regarding access to financial inclusion.
