Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has called on anti-corruption agencies across Africa to embrace digitization as a crucial weapon in the battle against corruption.
Speaking at the 14th Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Conference in Accra, Dr. Bawumia emphasized the significant risks that corruption and graft pose to the continent if not combated effectively.
The vice president graced the occasion to share his views on the measures needed to curtail the issue of corruption and the serious threat’s it poses to Africa’s growth, youth and development.
Dr. Bawumia pointed out that without implementing robust strategies like digitization, Africa could succumb to widespread corruption.
He highlighted that Ghana’s integration of digital systems into several state agencies has already saved the nation millions of cedis.
He cited the electricity company generating over a billion revenue due to digitalization.
“When I looked at our electricity company, the monthly revenue was 450 million Ghana cedis every month. And then I looked at the data, because you know over time we’ve kept increasing electricity prices and all of that, but for some reason for about four to five years, when you look at the data it’s 450 million every month. It didn’t change.
“So, I said we need to send in a team to digitalize revenue collection (0:44) at the electricity company of Ghana. Can you believe that from 450 million cedis a month, collections have now gone to over a billion cedis a month.”
Reports suggest that the global cost of corruption exceeds 3.5 trillion US dollars each year.
Specifically for Africa, the continent loses over 50 billion dollars annually to illicit financial flows.
Over the past five decades, the continent’s losses to corruption have reportedly surpassed the total official development assistance received.
Vice President Bawumia shared insights on adopting modern technological approaches, including blockchain technology, to dismantle corruption networks that threaten economic growth and development.
‘What threatened the future of African Youth, we also have at our disposal digital technologies to identify members of corrupt networks to account for revenues collected and to block revenue theft…blockchain technology makes it possible to discover any/all changes made to digital data.”
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Source: Anthony Sasu Ayisadu/ATLFMNEWS
