Dr. Bawumia: A Digital Vanguard’s Legacy — Credit Where Due

In the aftermath of Ghana’s recent election, one story shines brighter than any ballot count: the remarkable digital transformation driven by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. As Vice President from 2017 to 2025, Dr. Bawumia championed an ambitious agenda to digitize Ghana’s economy and public services. Despite his loss in the presidential race, his legacy endures in the systems now powering daily life – from cashless payments in remote villages to paperless workflows at bustling ports. This feature article celebrates Dr. Bawumia’s contributions across finance, education, health, public service, agriculture, and transport, reflecting on the progress made under his watch and the challenges that remain.

A Vision for a Digital Ghana

Dr. Bawumia entered office with a clear vision: to leapfrog Ghana into the Fourth Industrial Revolution by using technology to solve everyday problems. He often reminded Ghanaians that for decades the country lacked the basic elements of a modern economy – unique identification for citizens, efficient payment systems, and integrated databases. “For over 60 years after independence, Ghana had a largely informal system… Today, we are building a formal, data-driven economy to compete in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” he noted in a speech.

Many skeptics initially ridiculed his focus on digitalization. But Dr. Bawumia remained steadfast, convinced that technology could address long-standing challenges while spurring economic growth and job creation. Under his leadership, Ghana pursued an “aggressive policy of digitalisation” over eight years, bringing tangible improvements to governance and business. This vision translated into a comprehensive digital agenda touching nearly every sector of national life.

Below is a summary of key digital initiatives spearheaded by Dr. Bawumia, the year they were implemented, and their impact on Ghana’s development:

Digital Initiative	Year	Impact on Ghana
National Identification System (Ghana Card)	2018	Issued biometric Ghana Cards to over 85% of adults, providing a unique ID for citizens and residents. Enabled easier access to services (e.g. SIM registration, banking) and integration of databases (tax, health, pensions) for a formal, data-driven economy.
National Digital Property Address System	2017	Launched GhanaPost GPS to provide every location in Ghana with a digital address. Improved emergency service response and boosted e-commerce by enabling reliable deliveries.
Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI)	2018	Created seamless transfers between mobile wallets, bank accounts, and e-zwich cards. Deepened financial inclusion – Ghana became one of Africa’s most inclusive financial systems. The interoperable system won a global award for technology innovation.
Paperless Ports and Trade	2017	Digitized port clearance processes to reduce human contact and corruption. Cut cargo clearance times and costs, increasing port efficiency. The system proved critical during Covid-19, allowing remote processing and a 24% rise in container traffic despite lockdowns.
Online Passport & DVLA Services	2018	Introduced online applications for passports and driver’s licenses. Smart driver’s license cards (the first in West Africa) and digital vehicle registrations reduced middlemen (“goro boys”) and wait times, improving public trust and revenue at the Passport Office and DVLA.
Medical Drone Delivery (Zipline)	2019	Deployed drones to deliver blood, vaccines, and medications to remote clinics. Ghana became a world leader in using technology for healthcare access, saving lives in rural areas by drastically cutting delivery times.
National e-Pharmacy Platform	2022	Launched an online platform integrating pharmacies nationwide. Allows digital prescriptions and medicine purchases, helping combat counterfeit drugs and improving convenience in accessing medications.
Ghana.Gov One-Stop Portal	2020	Established a unified portal for e-government services and payments. Hundreds of services (from business registration to bill payments) are now accessible online, increasing convenience and transparency in public service delivery.
Universal QR Code & GhanaPay	2020, 2022	Rolled out GH QR, a universal QR code payment system, and GhanaPay, a bank-wide mobile wallet. These innovations enable merchants from the smallest market stall to large retailers to receive digital payments cheaply, propelling Ghana towards a cash-lite economy.
Mobile Health Insurance Renewal	2018	Enabled Ghanaians to renew National Health Insurance (NHIS) via mobile phone USSD. This simple innovation saw an average of 70,000 people renewing their health insurance each week via phone, drastically improving coverage.
Free Wi-Fi & Digital Tools in Schools	2020	Provided free Wi-Fi to 700 senior high schools and 13 public universities and distributed over 1.3 million tablets to students. Expanded the Ghana Learning Platform and coding programs, equipping youth with 21st-century skills for the digital economy

Table: Selected digital transformation initiatives under Dr. Bawumia, with their implementation year and impact.

Fintech Revolution: Cashless Payments and Financial Inclusion

Perhaps the most dramatic change unfolded in financial technology (fintech), where Dr. Bawumia’s initiatives have made Ghana a trailblazer. In May 2018, he launched Ghana’s Mobile Money Interoperability system, breaking the barriers between mobile money platforms and traditional banks. For the first time, a street vendor using MTN Mobile Money could send funds directly to a customer’s bank account or receive money from a friend on a different mobile network – instantly and at low cost. This “universal interoperability” eliminated the old fragmentation and was hailed as one of the first such systems in Africa. By late 2018, even Ghana’s biometric payment card (e-zwich) was integrated, “completing the financial inclusion triangle that connects bank accounts, MoMo wallets and e-zwich”.

The impact was profound: within months, over 1.3 million interoperability transactions (worth GH¢134 million) were recorded, and usage has since exploded. Ghana’s mobile money accounts now total over 40 million (outnumbering the population), and daily mobile money transactions exceeded 18 million by 2023. Dr. Bawumia’s push for cashless payments also led to the introduction of the “GH QR” code in 2020 – a single QR code that all banks and telecom operators use for payments. This made Ghana one of the first countries in Africa with a nationwide interoperable QR payment system, allowing even small traders to accept digital payments via a simple scan.

Financial inclusion has sharply increased as a result. By 2021, 71% of Ghanaians had access to financial accounts, up from 41% in 2014, thanks largely to mobile money growth. Indeed, with mobile wallets linked to bank and fintech services, thousands of gig economy jobs and online businesses have sprung up. Ghana’s fintech journey under Bawumia garnered international recognition – in 2018, the country swept three awards at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion global forum, including the top technology award for the interoperability project

Yet this revolution has a human face too. Shop owners in Accra’s Makola market now use QR codes on their stalls, taxi drivers carry mobile money wallets instead of wads of cash, and families in far-flung villages can securely receive remittances without traveling to a bank. 

Digitizing Public Services: From ID Cards to Paperless Ports

Central to Dr. Bawumia’s digital agenda was modernizing government services. When he assumed office, basic transactions like getting a passport or registering a business were often tedious and opaque. Many Ghanaians had lived and died “without any official record” of their existence, as Bawumia noted, due to the absence of a unified identification system. To tackle this, the Ghana Card was rolled out in 2018 as a new biometric national ID. For the first time, millions of citizens and residents obtained a secure identity document – over 17 million Ghana Cards have been issued, covering about 85% of the adult population. “The Ghana Card now covers all citizens, including newborns, streamlining the provision of essential services such as health and education,” Dr. Bawumia highlighted in a 2024 address. By linking the ID to databases like tax (GRA), healthcare (NHIS), pensions (SSNIT), and even voting registers, the government began connecting fragmented records into a cohesive digital ecosystem. Suddenly, having an ID number became mandatory for many services – a bold step toward formalizing the largely informal Ghanaian economy.

Hand-in-hand with ID cards was the Digital Property Address System (GhanaPost GPS). Launched in October 2017, this system assigned a unique digital address to every 5m x 5m square in Ghana. For a country where finding locations was once an art of descriptive directions, the digital address system was transformative. It leveraged GPS coordinates to give every home, no matter how remote, an address code.. Now, with a few taps on a smartphone, residents can retrieve their address or locate businesses on online maps. This has “boosted e-commerce in Ghana,” enabling deliveries to customers nationwide. It also supports emergency services – ambulances and police can find addresses more quickly than before. While challenges remain in getting everyone to use the app, the framework is in place for a future where no part of Ghana is “off the grid.”

Another signature achievement was the digitization of previously paper-bound processes in government agencies. At the Passport Office, manual forms and long queues have largely been replaced by an online application system. Applicants can apply and pay for passports from home and only visit the office for biometric capture and pickup. Likewise, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) introduced smart driver’s licenses and vehicle registration cards in 2017. These credit-card sized IDs with embedded chips are the first of their kind in West Africa. The new system, integrated with police databases, has improved road safety enforcement and revenue collection. Ghanaians can now book their driving test online, renew roadworthy certificates digitally, and receive SMS alerts instead of relying on unofficial agents.

One of the most complex but impactful projects has been the Paperless Ports initiative. Ghana’s ports at Tema and Takoradi were notorious for cumbersome paperwork and face-to-face interactions that bred rent-seeking. In September 2017, at Dr. Bawumia’s urging, a comprehensive paperless clearance system went live. Customs, port authorities, shipping lines, and freight forwarders were interconnected through a single electronic window. The results were soon evident: clearance times dropped significantly, and many steps (like paying duties or submitting manifests) could be done online. By eliminating duplicative inspections and reducing human contact, the system cut down on petty bribery and “has so far improved time and cost of clearance” according to the Ghana Shippers Authority. While some bottlenecks persist and parts of the process still go manual at times, the ports today are far more efficient than a decade ago – a tangible gain for trade and industry.

Dr. Bawumia also oversaw the creation of Ghana.Gov, an online portal bringing together hundreds of government services under one digital roof. Launched in 2020, Ghana.Gov lets citizens pay for everything from business registration and utility bills to school fees and traffic fines electronically. By 2023, the portal had processed millions of transactions, improving public service delivery and plugging revenue leakages by ensuring payments go straight to the government’s accounts. Indeed, automating services like visa applications, land title searches, and even court filings (through a new e-Justice system) has begun to reduce the frustration and graft that often plagued Ghanaians in the past.

Education: Empowering Youth in a Digital Age

At the heart of Dr. Bawumia’s agenda was a belief that young Ghanaians must be equipped to thrive in the digital era. His tenure saw a concerted effort to infuse technology into education – both in administration and classroom learning. Perhaps the most lauded initiative was providing free Wi-Fi to secondary schools and public tertiary institutions. By 2021, over 700 high schools and 13 universities had been connected with broadband Wi-Fi hotspots, a project that dramatically improved internet access for students and teachers. This meant a student in a rural school could now watch online lectures or access e-books and research materials just like their peers in urban centers. It also enabled tools like digital attendance systems and e-learning platforms to function. 

The government also distributed 1.3 million tablets to Senior High School students loaded with curriculum content. Instructors received laptops under an initiative to facilitate digital content delivery. These efforts dovetailed with the new curriculum emphasis on ICT and the introduction of basic coding in schools. Coding bootcamps, robotics clubs, and STEM programs blossomed under this policy umbrella – inspired in part by Bawumia’s public praise of young Ghanaian innovators. 

The impact is visible in success stories: Girls in a Tamale high school winning robotics competitions, university students launching start-ups, and a general rise in digital literacy among Ghana’s youth. Of course, challenges persist – some schools reported patchy internet or lack of electricity to fully utilize the Wi-Fi, and training teachers to integrate tech into lessons is ongoing. But a foundation has been laid. In the long run, these investments in human capital aim to ensure Ghana not only consumes technology but also creates it.

Healthcare Goes Digital: Saving Lives with Tech

In the healthcare sector, Dr. Bawumia’s digital drive has literally been life-saving. He famously quipped that medical drones delivering blood to remote clinics was his personal favorite innovation. Starting in 2019, Ghana partnered with Zipline to operate drone distribution centers that cover vast swaths of rural Ghana. Today, drones buzzing over forests and rivers have delivered hundreds of thousands of critical medical products, blood pints, vaccines, snake antivenom, and more to areas that would take hours to reach by road. This leapfrogging of infrastructure has “addressed poor healthcare access in remote areas,” making Ghana a model that other countries now emulate. Health workers in villages can now use an app to request a delivery and receive it by parachute in under an hour, potentially saving a mother with postpartum hemorrhage or ensuring children get timely immunizations.

Another quiet revolution was the introduction of digital health records in many government hospitals. Instead of illegible paper folders, patient records are gradually being digitized and linked to the Ghana Card ID. This means a patient’s history can be pulled up quickly, referrals between facilities are smoother, and data for public health decisions is more reliable. As Dr. Bawumia noted, the days of “inefficient manual records in healthcare facilities” are numbered, replaced by modern systems that improve care. For example, the Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye teaching hospitals have piloted electronic medical record systems that cut down waiting times and reduce errors in medication dispensing.

A flagship service that affected millions was the NHIS Mobile Renewal launched in late 2018. By dialing *929# on any phone, Ghanaians can renew their National Health Insurance membership and pay the fee via mobile money. This eliminated the need to travel to NHIS offices and wait in long lines. Within the first year, mobile renewals constituted over 80% of all NHIS renewals, with over 70,000 people renewing by phone every week, according to Dr. Bawumia. Building on that, a new MyNHIS mobile app was recently launched to allow new registrations and accessing one’s insurance details on the go.

Another groundbreaking addition came in 2022 with the launch of the National e-Pharmacy platform. This platform, first of its kind in West Africa, connects licensed pharmacies across Ghana on a common digital system. Using a mobile app or USSD, people can upload prescriptions and find which nearby pharmacies have the medicines in stock, compare prices, and order medications to be delivered. It also enables online consultations with pharmacists. The goal is to clamp down on fake drugs by ensuring people buy from certified pharmacies, and to make medicines more accessible especially for the chronically ill. Early results are promising – thousands of Ghanaians have used e-Pharmacy to conveniently get essential drugs, and the medical regulatory authorities have better oversight of the pharmacy supply chain.

Dr. Bawumia’s push in health tech has been applauded by many in the medical community. “Ghana’s world-renowned medical drone service” has put the country on the global map for innovation. The World Health Organization cited Ghana as an example of integrating technology into health systems to improve outcomes. However, challenges remain here too: ensuring data security and patient privacy with digital records, expanding internet connectivity to all clinics, and training health workers to use new systems. The e-health journey is underway, even if not yet complete, and its early successes owe much to the political will and support from the highest levels of government.

Agriculture and Transportation: Digital Seeds of Change

Even Ghana’s agriculture – the backbone of the economy, has felt the winds of digital change. Dr. Bawumia consistently championed the idea of “smart agriculture,” urging the use of tech to boost productivity. While farming might seem far removed from fancy tech, initiatives under his watch have made inroads. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture introduced an e-Agriculture platform that sends farmers SMS alerts on weather forecasts and market prices. Under the flagship Planting for Food and Jobs program, a database of farmers was created to better target subsidies, and electronic coupons were used for redeeming fertilizer to reduce diversion and fraud. At the 39th National Farmers’ Day in 2023, Dr. Bawumia emphasized that embracing drones, IoT sensors, and data analytics in farming could be key to achieving food security. He highlighted successes: from 2017 to 2022, Ghana’s agricultural growth doubled to an average 6% annually, partly due to these interventions. Drones are now being used in some communities for crop spraying and mapping pest infestations, while agritech startups are connecting farmers with buyers via mobile apps.

There is also a new generation of tech-savvy youth going into agribusiness, inspired by the government’s focus on digital tools. For instance, apps that help cocoa farmers detect crop diseases or platforms for traceability of produce for export have emerged. These remain nascent, but they signal the beginning of a transformation in a sector often seen as traditional. Dr. Bawumia’s role was often as a catalyst – convening hackathons on agriculture, encouraging telecom companies to extend connectivity to rural areas, and securing funding for digital infrastructure that benefits farming communities. 

In the realm of transportation, apart from the DVLA reforms and digital addresses already described, one notable effort was improving public transport through technology. In 2023, Dr. Bawumia launched a ride-hailing app called “GO Ride” developed by young Ghanaian entrepreneurs, as part of his support for local innovation in the transport sector. The app aims to provide affordable ride-sharing services and create competition for foreign operators, while offering drivers better conditions. At the launch, he commended the developers for using technology to solve urban mobility issues and create jobs, calling it “a groundbreaking platform poised to transform Ghana’s transport sector.”

Additionally, electronic ticketing (e-ticketing) was introduced for public events and transport. In early 2022, Ghana piloted e-ticketing at the Accra Sports Stadium for football matches, with Dr. Bawumia personally overseeing the first major rollout for a World Cup qualifier. The e-ticketing system replaced physical ticket sales (often a source of chaos and revenue loss) with online purchases via a website and USSD short code. Fans could buy tickets on their phones and enter the stadium using QR codes, a system that reportedly increased revenue by ensuring all sales were accounted for. Following the successful pilot, about 20,000 tickets (half the stadium) were sold online for the Ghana vs. Nigeria match, the Ministry of Sports expanded e-ticketing to all major sporting venues. This has improved security and convenience for patrons and plugged financial leaks for event organizers.

The transport sector’s digitization also extended to logistics. A digital tracking system for fuel tankers and cargo trucks was implemented to curb fuel theft and smuggling of premix fuel meant for fishermen. GPS-based monitoring now allows the National Petroleum Authority to know if a fuel tanker deviates from its route or offloads illicitly. Such measures, though technical, have real impact on citizens – preventing shortages and stabilizing prices.

In summary, from farms to roads, Dr. Bawumia’s tenure sowed many “digital seeds” that are gradually changing how Ghanaians produce food and move people and goods. Some seeds have quickly borne fruit (like e-ticketing), while others will take time (like full-scale smart farming). But the direction is set: the old analog ways of doing things are giving way to a new digital normal.

Pros, Cons, and the Road Ahead

Dr. Bawumia’s digital transformation agenda has clearly yielded numerous benefits for Ghana. It has improved efficiency, transparency, and inclusion across multiple sectors. Millions of previously unbanked Ghanaians now participate in the financial system. Public services that used to be marred by queuing and bribery have become more customer-friendly. Schoolchildren have better access to knowledge, and remote communities have better access to healthcare. The economy, too, stands to gain: the World Bank noted that Ghana’s digital sector grew 19% per year on average from 2014 to 2020 – one of the country’s best-performing sectors. By building digital infrastructure and platforms, Ghana is positioning itself as a regional leader in innovation and is attracting investments in its tech startup ecosystem Pierre Laporte, the World Bank’s country director, praised Ghana’s holistic approach: “Expanding digital access and adoption, enhancing digital public service delivery, and promoting digital innovation are essential for Ghana’s transformation… The Ghana Digital Acceleration Project covers all these elements”.

Crucially, many of the digital initiatives have also contributed to greater accountability and anti-corruption. For example, automating payments means fewer opportunities for officials to demand bribes; digitizing databases helps detect ghost names on payrolls; and the government can better mobilize revenue when people and businesses are formally registered. “Digitalisation is yielding fruits in the fight against corruption,” Dr. Bawumia argued, citing the digitization at DVLA and passport offices as reducing graft. While corruption hasn’t vanished overnight, these systemic changes are chipping away at its foundations.

However, no grand initiative comes without challenges and criticisms, and Bawumia’s digital drive is no exception. One major concern is the digital divide – the gap between those who have access to these new digital services and those who do not. Despite expansion efforts, about half of Ghanaians still lack regular internet access, especially in rural areas where connectivity and electricity are spotty. Critics point out that shiny apps and online systems can inadvertently exclude citizens who aren’t tech-savvy or who can’t afford smartphones and data. Dr. Bawumia himself acknowledged in speeches that not everyone was on the internet, which is why many services, like the NHIS renewal and Ghana.Gov, were designed with offline options (USSD codes or local agents assisting) to be inclusive. Even so, bridging this divide will be an ongoing task for Ghana’s policymakers.

Another challenge lies in implementation and public awareness. Rolling out a new system is one thing; getting everyone to use it correctly is another. For instance, the Digital Address System was initially met with confusion and slow adoption. Some Ghanaians didn’t see the need when informal directions still worked for them; others simply forgot to use the app. A lack of sustained public education meant that after the hype died down, usage dipped, leading some to call the address system “a failure in need of urgent overhaul”. The lesson here is that technology must be accompanied by training and awareness. The government has since increased efforts to integrate the digital address into services (banks now require it for loans, etc.), which should improve its utility. Similarly, the Ghana Card initially faced delays in issuance and long lines at registration centers, causing frustration. The ambitious goal of linking every database to the Ghana Card also proved complex, with some integrations (like with the voter register or SIM cards) encountering legal and logistical hurdles. These are perhaps natural teething problems for any large IT project, but they underscore that digital reforms are not a magic switch, they require continuous refinement.

Data privacy and security are also concerns. With so much personal data now collected (biometrics, health records, financial data), citizens and experts have rightly questioned how securely it’s stored and who has access. Ghana passed a Data Protection Act, but enforcement is still evolving. There have been no major breaches reported within these new systems so far, but the risk is ever-present. Ensuring robust cybersecurity will be essential to sustain trust in digital systems. Dr. Bawumia’s team often reassured the public on these fronts and collaborated with international partners to build secure platforms, but the work of safeguarding the digital republic will be ongoing.

Finally, some critics argue that focusing on digitalization alone won’t solve deeper economic issues. They note that despite these advancements, Ghana faced economic difficulties by 2022-2023 (including an IMF bailout) and high youth unemployment. To them, digitalization felt like “a political slogan more than a panacea,” suggesting that basics like industrialization and macroeconomic stability need equal attention. Dr. Bawumia’s counter argument was that digitalization underpins and enhances all sectors – for instance, you need digital systems to efficiently collect taxes or to run industries competitively. Both views have merit, and indeed the digital push was just one pillar of the government’s broader program. What’s clear is that technology is not a silver bullet, but it can be a powerful enabler when combined with sound economic policies.

The Legacy of a Digital Driver

As Ghana moves forward with a new government, the digital progress made over the past eight years is here to stay. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia may not have become president in 2024, but his influence as the man behind Ghana’s digital transformation is clear. He pushed for a future where technology makes everyday life easier for Ghanaians, and he made real progress.

From getting public institutions to use tech more, to popularizing things like the GhanaCard and QR codes, Bawumia became known as “Digitisation Bawumia.” Today, his work lives on: a nurse scanning patient records with a GhanaCard, a farmer checking prices on her phone, a student using free Wi-Fi, and a young entrepreneur building a fintech app, all part of his impact.

Most Ghanaians appreciate how digital services have made life faster and easier. People joke that “everything is going digital,” but they also enjoy the benefits – like sending money quickly or renewing passports online. Some still have concerns about job losses or rising costs, but even critics agree that Ghana can’t be left behind in a digital world.

Bawumia’s efforts have brought Ghana’s public services into the modern era. The new government is expected to continue these projects, with support from programs like the World Bank’s Digital Acceleration initiative. The digital foundation is strong, and tearing it down would make no sense.