Minister Moves to Slash Mobile Data Costs: Inter-Ministerial Committee to Tackle High Charges
Minister of Communications, Samuel Nartey George, has announced plans to establish an inter-ministerial committee to examine and address the high cost of data in Ghana.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy News, the Ningo-Prampram MP revealed that he had already instructed the Communications Ministry to initiate the process, with the committee expected to be formed within the next 14 days.
“Yesterday, I met the director and management of the ministry, and I’ve given them the running order. Hopefully, within the next 14 days, we’ll be setting up an inter-ministerial committee to look at the cost of data,” he stated.
Sam George expressed confidence that Ghanaians will see tangible changes in the prices of data before the end of the year.
“At my vetting, I said that it is my fervent belief that before the end of this year, we should see some movements in the data offerings,” he assured.
Sam George stressed that his policy decisions would be guided by extensive engagement with key stakeholders, particularly telecom operators and industry regulators.
“Even before I sat at my vetting to announce this as policy, I had engaged all the telecom CEOs. I’m going to be a minister who will engage industry. I won’t announce a policy without engaging the industry and getting their buy-in,” he noted.
He further described his leadership approach as a “reset” for Ghana’s digital economy, pledging to ensure that policy decisions are made in collaboration with industry players.
“I told them, it’s a new dawn. It’s a reset. And so I engaged personally, every single chief executive and the chamber as well to get their understanding of what I want to do and secure their buy-in before announcing it,” he added.
