Ghana government to launch Universal QR Code in December – Bawumia
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says government will launch a Universal QR Code in December to leverage on digital technology for electronic payment.
He said the QR Code would allow businesses and traders to undertake electronic transactions without Point of Sale devices.
Vice President Bawumia announced this at the third Chamber Business Awards organised by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Accra over the weekend.
“Next month, Ghana will launch the Universal QR Code which will just leverage on the technology that we have built for electronic payments. Essentially, all businesses and traders will no longer need Point of Sale (PoS) devices, but rather, their mobile phones will be sufficient for them to receive and make electronic payment transactions,” he explained.
He noted that Singapore, China and the United Kingdom had already launched the Universal QR Codes last year, therefore Ghana would become the first country in Africa to do so.
The Universal QR code comprised squares of black and white blocks, which can be scanned by smartphones with the aim of making it easier for businesses to accept electronic payments.
The Chamber Business Awards was held on the theme: “Digitising the Ghanaian Economy for Competitive Edge in Globalised Markets,” which attracted captains of industry, members of the Council of State, ministers of State, members of Parliament, development partners and the Diplomatic Community.
The event is designed to acknowledge and celebrate businesses and personalities who have demonstrated innovation and excellence in business practice as well as contributed towards the overall development of the Ghanaian economy.
Vice President Bawumia said the theme for the celebration was apt since it was in tandem with the government’s vision of digitising the Ghanaian economy to make it globally competitive.
He noted that data was the “new oil” in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which enabled government and businesses to take the right decision.
In that regard, he said, the Akufo-Addo-led administration on assuming the reins of government undertook some initiatives such as the biometric national identity (Ghana Card), digital property address system and mobile money interoperability system, to digitise the Ghanaian economy.
Those initiatives, he said, were intended to promote the delivery of quality social services, enhance and ease doing business, financial inclusion and reduce human contacts in business transactions that bred corruption.
The Vice President explained that those programmes were rolled out through public-private partnerships and lauded the Ghanaian private sector players for playing a pivotal role in implementing those programmes.
The President of the Chamber, Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I, in his welcome address, said for Ghanaian businesses to achieve global competitiveness, it required shared and collective responsibility of all stakeholders.
He therefore, underlined the need to build the capacities of small-and- medium scale enterprises (SMEs) for them to be innovative and responsive to the changing trends in the global marketplace.
“It is therefore instructive that we encourage businesses to be more creative in the areas of marketing, packaging, branding, pricing, technology delivery and effective customer care,” he stated.
The President of GNCCI commended government for its digital initiatives and taking the bold step to host the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfFTA) Secretariat in Accra, which would inure to the benefit of Ghanaian businesses.
Source: GNA