Madam Virginia Palmer, United States Ambassador to Ghana, has commended Ghana for leading the way in West Africa on climate-related technologies and innovation.
She attributed the gains in Ghana to recent government-led initiatives aimed at encouraging the use of climate-related technologies and the intent to waive taxes on some climate-related technologies, particularly electric cars.
She made the remarks in her address during the Tech in Ghana programme, which was held at the Accra Digital Centre.
The tax waivers would benefit the importation of electric cars, assembled electric cars in Ghana, and electric car spare parts imported into the country.
These initiatives, the Ambassador said, would create an enabling environment for electrical vehicles, charging stations, and their supporting technologies.
She also said Ghana had established itself as a hub in Africa for artificial intelligence and fintech innovation.
The Tech in Ghana programme is a prominent United Kingdom and Ghana platform dedicated to strengthening and showcasing Ghana’s thriving tech ecosystem both locally and globally.
Since the inception of the programme in 2017, it has attracted the active involvement of many multinational businesses, policymakers, investors, fast-growing scale-ups, and founders from the region.
The event at the Accra Digital Centre also featured an exhibition by various tech companies in Ghana, presentations on the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
Madam Akosua Annobil, Chief Executive Officer for Tech in Ghana, said this year’s edition had been successful as the panel discussions and other activities have been fruitful.
“So far, we have had some great keynotes from the United States Ambassador to Ghana and some important panel discussions for the day, which were about creating an enabling environment for financial digital services and financial inclusion. We also had a great key on artificial intelligence,’’ she said.
She said the African tech ecosystem had a huge potential but without collaboration the continent could not thrive the way we wanted to see it.
She called for more dialogues with various players in the tech industry, particularly regulators and practitioners, on how to promote access to technological products and services in the country.
There was panel discussion including industry players in telecommunications, fintech, and tech start-ups, who provided insight on how to improve financial inclusion in Ghana.
Source: GNA
