Malawi has invited Ghana to help replicate its digital innovation model as African governments increasingly look to share technology expertise across the continent.
The request was made by Shadric Namalomba, Malawi’s Minister of Information and Digitalization, during a meeting with Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. George said Malawi is seeking Ghana’s support to develop a wide range of digital systems including fintech platforms, digital identification, rural connectivity and government technology services.
“In fact, my colleague minister from Malawi specifically told me that his success as a minister solely depends on me and how I am able to get Ghanaian technology businesses to roll out their solutions in Malawi,” he said. The discussions come as Ghana seeks to position its technology firms as regional providers of digital infrastructure and services.
George said interest in Ghana’s technology ecosystem has been growing following a recent state visit to Zambia with President John Dramani Mahama, where a delegation of 12 Ghanaian fintech and technology companies secured business deals worth about $60 million within three days. According to the minister, the agreements highlight the growing demand across Africa for digital solutions developed on the continent.
Malawi is now exploring cooperation with Ghana in areas including fintech systems, last-mile connectivity, energy solutions for rural networks, e-government platforms, agritech, edutech, health technology and artificial intelligence-enabled systems.
George said Malawi has also invited Ghanaian technology companies to participate in its upcoming digital innovation week, where firms from both countries are expected to explore partnerships aimed at replicating Ghana’s digital development model. “For starters I will be sharing a copy of our revised legislations with them so that they can benchmark and fine tune them for their own purposes. I will also be sharing our AI strategy with them to build on it,” he said.
The minister said he plans to lead a delegation of 15 to 20 Ghanaian technology firms to Malawi to support the rollout of national identification systems, fintech services and e-government platforms. “For me, if we move Ghanaian businesses into the continent that is the only way we can achieve Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of Ghana’s independence being linked to the total liberation of the African continent,” he stated.
George said the initiative reflects a broader shift among African policymakers toward greater regional cooperation in technology development. He said governments are increasingly recognizing the value of locally developed solutions. “We are better off working among ourselves instead of reaching out to the usual tech giants outside of the continent. We are beginning to realize that a Ghanaian businessman has better understanding of the local nuances in Malawi than an American or Asian would.”
The minister added that Ghana is also working to promote regulatory alignment across African markets to make it easier for technology companies to expand across borders. “As minister I am personally embarking on a project to get all my counterparts across the continent to benchmark their regulations on that of Ghana so that we can easily harmonize our regulations and make them more enabling for our respective businesses.”
George said harmonized regulations could eventually allow financial technology firms licensed in one country to operate across others under a system known as license passporting. He believes such cooperation could also reduce reliance on foreign currencies for cross-border transactions across the continent. “That is when we will really be sovereign.”
