Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Samuel Nartey George, has revealed plans to establish an interministerial committee aimed at addressing the high cost of data in Ghana.
The committee is expected to be set up within the next two weeks and will include representatives from various sectors, including the Ministry of Energy and Finance, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), and telecom industry stakeholders.
The inclusion of energy sector representatives is relevant because power costs significantly impact operators: tower companies reportedly attribute about 80% of their expenses to energy.
According to some analysts, the high cost of internet data in Ghana is also due the fluctuating cedi-dollar exchange rate and lack of competitive pricing.
According to GBC Ghana Online, the minister suggested two potential models for reducing costs: lowering prices or increasing value offerings (that is, more data for the same price). He aims for significant progress on data offerings before the end of the year.
While recent figures do not seem to be available, Ghana had 24 million internet subscribers at the beginning of 2024, a penetration rate of about 70%.
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), mobile internet spending in Ghana accounts for 3.7% of gross national income per capita, compared to 12.8% for fixed internet both of which exceed theaffordable rate, which the ITU suggests is on or below 2%.
A recent analysis by news service My Joy Online suggests that many Ghanaians spend more on internet data than on food and that the high cost of data is a major concern for users.
