Work on the ICT Policy for Ghana started in October 1998, when a National Communications Policy Conference dubbed, COMPOL ‘98’ involving all stakeholders in the ICT sector was held at the International Conference Centre in Accra. The policy document was finalised in October 2000 at Akosombo for the approval of Cabinet. However, Cabinet could not pass the Communications Bill before the then government went out of power.
In September 2001, the government organised another National Communications Policy Conference, at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), to review and update the Communication Policy Document formulated by the previous government in 1998. The formulation of a comprehensive ICT Policy, known as Ghana Information and Communication Technology for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD), was completed and the result is what is today referred to as Ghana ICT Policy for Accelerated Development.
Under the Ghana ICT Policy for Accelerated Development, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), (formerly the Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL)) was created as an implementing agency of the Ministry of Communications, in January 2004, to facilitate the provision of ICT, Internet connectivity and infrastructure to underserved and un-served areas of the country.
In July 2004 the Government of Ghana set up Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL) as an agency of the Ministry of Communications to facilitate the provision of universal access to basic telephony by the unserved and underserved communities in the country. The Electronic Communications Act 775 promulgated in 2008, gave the legal backing to the agency (which started operations in January 2005), changed the agency’s name to the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) and widened the scope of its mandate to include the provision of access to electronic services including ICT, broadcasting, internet, multimedia service and basic telephony, by the unserved and underserved communities in Ghana.
The Government of Ghana aims at achieving equitable economic growth and accelerated poverty reduction within a sustained economy focusing on the private sector as the engine of growth. For effective governance, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) has been developed to support the attainment of both national and sectoral goals.
A major thrust of the GPRS is that, the Government of Ghana (GoG) acknowledges that if the nation is to move her industrially weak and subsistence agricultural-based economy towards an information and knowledge economy, then Ghana needs to develop and implement comprehensive and integrated ICT for Accelerated Development policies, strategies and plans. The Government in effect has identified ICT as the driver and enabler of a sustained and co-ordinated socio-economic development in Ghana.
To attain the vision of promoting a multi-accelerated national development as outlined in the Ghana ICT4AD Document, the Ministry of Communication (MoC) is committed to facilitating the management of the convergence of Information, Communication and Technologies as tools to promote integrated and accelerated national development within a global setting.
Mission
The mission of the GIFEC Fund is to efficiently and effectively
1. Provide funds as subsidies for development of Telecommunications service throughout the country.
Vision
To offer a sustainable way of Universal Access to Information and Communications Technology, that would promote social, economic and cultural development of the people of Ghana through best practice.
The Fund
The Fund is also determined to ensure that its policies, transactions and services are conducted in a very transparent manner and that all clients are treated equally, irrespective of race, gender, religion or nationality.
