Notable strategic programs in Ghana
Ghana has recently emerged as one of the world’s most desirable countries. This is not only coincidental; rather, it is a result of the way she has positioned herself and controlled herself through its programs. Mobile Money Interoperability, Year of Return and Beyond the Return, Free SHS, and its Reformation of the School Curriculum to Meet the 21st Century Curriculum are just a few of the numerous initiatives throughout the last ten years.
Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI)
Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) is a digital infrastructure in Africa that facilitates cross-continental economic transactions. Customers of various banks and mobile money networks may send, receive, and make payments in real time across platforms thanks to MMI. The digital financial ecosystem in Ghana and other African countries depends on this technology, which was initially implemented there. It encourages trade, cross-border payments, and financial inclusion.
Then-Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia launched the Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) system through Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited (GhlPSS) in 2018 in partnership with the Bank of Ghana, telecom companies, and financial institutions. Introduced in May 2018, Phase 1 eliminated the requirement for third-party payment providers by enabling direct, frictionless transactions between mobile money wallets across several networks. By linking bank and mobile money accounts, Phase 2, which debuted in November 2018, expanded financial inclusion. In 2018, Ghana became the first country in Africa to adopt this system, paving the way for the quick global expansion of financial inclusion and mobile money transactions.
Ghana has collaborated with other African countries to create a continental commerce corridor since it was the first to design and execute mobile money interoperability (MMI), which has now become the standard for Africa and the rest of the globe. Prof. Naana Opoku Agyemang, Ghana’s vice president, announced the proposal to establish a continental digital commerce corridor with Rwanda, Zambia, and other partners on May 6, 2026. The goal is to improve the integration and interoperability of financial transactions across Africa, which will enhance trade between people on the continent and beyond.
The Year of Return and Beyond the Return
The president of Ghana was the first to openly invite and urge African diasporas to move to Africa. In September 2018, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo gave a significant speech in Washington, D.C. He initiated and officially introduced the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” campaign.
2019 was marked as the Year of Return to mark the 400th anniversary of the first known arrival of enslaved Africans in the Americas. President Akufo Addo claimed that because Ghana was a crucial corridor for the movement of slaves, it felt bound to welcome everyone who could trace their genealogy back to Africa. “We believe we have a responsibility to extend a hand of welcome back home to Africans in the diaspora,” said the president. Following President Nana Addo’s speech in Washington, D.C. in 2019, around 2,000 African diaspora members traveled to Africa by plane, and over a million of them traveled to Ghana.
President Nana Akufo-Addo welcomed 524 people of the African Diaspora back to Ghana in December 2024 and urged them to work together and advance the nation while regaining their Ghanaian citizenship. The “Beyond the Return” campaign, which was started in 2019 to commemorate 400 years since the first African was transported to America, includes this historic swearing-in event. The project’s objectives are to raise diaspora participation and fortify Ghana’s links to its common history. President Akufo-Addo stressed the need of cooperation, tolerance, and shared objectives in his speech. In order to improve Ghana and make it a better place for everyone, he urged the immigrants to share their expertise. Many African diaspora people received citizenship for the first time in Ghana and Africa.
Beyond the Return was born out of the Year of Return, which also established other internationally recognized events including Detty December, Ghana Month, and Afro Chella. People travel to Ghana to celebrate these occasions. Both the local economy and the surrounding tourism and hospitality businesses benefited from these initiatives.
Since the launch of Free SHS and CCP in 2017, Ghana has shown itself on a global scale. Mamfe Methodist Girls’ High School pupils from Ghana’s Eastern region won the title of world champion in the Senior Division of the May 16–18, 2019, World Robofest Championship in the United States. At the World Robofest Championships, Prempeh College, a boys’ secondary school in Ghana’s Ashanti region, performed exceptionally well. They won a cup at the World Robotics Olympiad in the United States in May 2024 and the Bottle Sumo Unlimited senior division at the Robofest Championship in 2023. Robofest Online World Championships (Game Category) (2020) champions and Robofest World Championships, Game 2021 third place. After displaying creative dexterity in this year’s (2026) competition, the all-female team placed fourth in the Time Trial Bottle Sumo category of the World Robofest Championship 2026 by Bosomtwe Girls STEM Academy in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Free Senior High School policy and the Common Core Programme Curriculum (CCP)
Ghana revised its senior high school (SHS) curriculum to meet the demands of the fourth industrial revolution and implemented free senior high school education. In order to better prepare students for both further education and the workforce, the new curriculum reorganizes topic possibilities, incorporates 21st-century skills, strengthens values education, and provides flexible paths and contemporary assessment techniques.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Ghana’s then-Minister of Education, implemented the Free Senior High School policy and the Common Core Programme (CCP) curriculum between 2017 and 2021. From 2021 to 2025, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the official minister of education, oversaw curricular changes, including the 2025 SHS reforms that gave TVET integration and experiential, competency-based learning top priority. The current Minister, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, has focused on incorporating AI, digital learning, and curriculum language enhancements since 2025.
Ghana’s students have excelled both domestically and abroad since the country revised its high school curriculum to meet the needs of the fourth industrial revolution. In the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) administered between 2017 and 2025, Ghana scored more than any other West African country. Since WAEC released the top three school candidates for the WASSCE in 2023–2025, every student, from first to third place, has come from Ghana.
Since the launch of Free SHS and CCP in 2017, Ghana has shown itself on a global scale. Mamfe Methodist Girls’ High School pupils from Ghana’s Eastern region won the title of world champion in the Senior Division of the May 16–18, 2019, World Robofest Championship in the United States. At the World Robofest Championships, Prempeh College, a boys’ secondary school in Ghana’s Ashanti region, performed exceptionally well. They won a cup at the World Robotics Olympiad in the United States in May 2024 and the Bottle Sumo Unlimited senior division at the Robofest Championship in 2023. Robofest Online World Championships (Game Category) (2020) champions and Robofest World Championships, Game 2021 third place. The all-female team finished fourth in the Time Trial Bottle Sumo category of the World Robofest Championship 2026 by Bosomtwe Girls STEM Academy in the Ashanti Region of Ghana after showcasing inventive dexterity in this year’s tournament (2026).
