Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the vice president, has been listed as one of the top 100 Africans
with the most influence.
The New African Magazine, a renowned pan-African publication, compiled the exclusive list
of transformational African leaders in an effort to recognise, honour, and celebrate a select
group of such leaders who are truly changing lives and having a significant impact on both
their home nations and the continent of Africa.
Along with Presidents William Ruto of Kenya, Mackey Sall of Senegal, and Paul Kagame of
Rwanda, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was chosen as one of the world’s prominent LEADERS.
Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Professor
Benedict Oramah, the head of the African Exim Bank, are two more people.
Dr. Bawumia received recognition for his unwavering efforts to lead Ghana’s digitization as a
key economic strategy to address socio-economic issues.
Glowing Tribute
The journal praised the Vice President for his transformational leadership, calling Dr.
Bawumia one of Africa’s most prominent leaders and emphasising that his changes are
“Creating unique precedents on the African continent.”
‘The Oxford-trained economist, former Deputy Governor of Ghana’s Central Bank and Vice
President of the Republic of Ghana since 2017, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is spearheading
Ghana’s digitisation as a core economic strategy to solve socio-economic problems, formalise
and build a more inclusive economy, deal with corruption and to provide social services more
effectively,” wrote the magazine.
“His reforms are setting a unique precedent on the continent. His digitisation agenda has
resulted in the implementation and adoption of a National Identification System, a Digital
Property Addressing System and a Mobile Money Interoperability System. This is enabling a
new set of opportunities for the consumer including mobile wallets and greater financial
inclusion.”
“Bawumia sees technology as the key to transforming the economy and delivering essential
services,” the publication added.
The magazine also lauded Dr. Bawumia for starting Ghana’s recent oil for gold barter effort,
which aims to use gold instead of the country’s reserve of US dollars to pay for imported oil.
This was a wise step to stop the depreciation of the Cedi and rein in the country’s soaring fuel
prices.
Dr. Bawumia’s impact on Ghana’s digitalization process
With the transformational policies championed by Dr. Bawumia, Ghana has achieved the
following: successfully issued digital national identity cards to Ghanaian nationals and
residents, become the first African country to adopt a national digital property address
system, become the first African country to implement mobile money interoperability
between mobile money accounts and bank accounts, been ranked number one in Africa in
terms of access to financial inclusion, and be the first African country to implement mobile
money interoperability between mobile money accounts and bank accounts.
Ghana has also become the world’s largest provider of medical delivery services, employing
Zipline drones to carry medical supplies to remote parts of the country in real time, thanks to
his digitisation initiatives.
Ghana has also become the first African country to implement a national scale E-Pharmacy
digital platform, and the country has digitized the provision of government services using a
common digital portal (Ghana.gov), as well as a common digital platform for property
taxation in Ghana – all of which have greatly contributed to revenue mobilisation.
The most recent recognition from New Africa Magazine is another worldwide honour for Dr.
Bawumia for his pivotal involvement in Ghana’s well-received digitalization effort.
Recently, Dr. Bawumia was referred to by the UNDP as a “champion of digitalisation” and
his work has expedited inclusive development, according to Angela Rusigi, the country
representative for the UNDP.
