Administrator of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Rashid Tanko-Computer, has outlined plans to significantly expand telecommunication services to rural communities across Ghana, leveraging private sector investment.
Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Friday, February 20, Tanko-Computer, who also serves as Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the government aims to cover 90 percent of rural communities by 2028.
He revealed that private service providers are eager to participate in the rural telephony project through a public-private partnership (PPP) model, where GIFEC will provide land and investors will deploy network infrastructure.
“By 2028 before we go to the elections, we should be doing about 90 per cent of the rural communities because currently I have reached out to some service providers who are ready. In fact they are private people who want to come into the rural telephony project by PPP arrangement. We will provide the land and they will bring their network so government is not going to spend money. One of them is thinking of bringing 1000 cell sites which means a lot of communities are going to be connected,” he said.
He stressed that the initiative is part of GIFEC’s broader mandate to bridge the digital divide, promote rural connectivity, and expand access to electronic communications nationwide.
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