Samuel Nartey George, Minister of Communications, Digital Technology, and Innovations, has submitted letters of intent to the Africa Union (AU) indicating his desire to compete for the Specialised Technical Committee on Communication and ICT (STC-CICT) chairperson.
First, the Minister received approval from President John Dramani Mahama, who will take over as AU chair in 2027. This is a calculated move because Sam George will be able to lead the AU’s ICT and digital trade policies while the president is in office as AU chair.
This will enable him to carry out the president’s vision in the sector more effectively.
During the current Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, the minister revealed this in an exclusive interview with Techfocus24.
He claims that his bid is already receiving a lot of support around the continent since, for example, South Africa is organising support from every nation in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region.
“Smart Africa has also expressed their intent to support our bid – Egypt is also working with us to rally north Africa and I confident that my colleagues in the other regions will also come on board as we engage them going forward,” he stated.
“I am optimistic that it will be a consensus election because I don’t foresee any other country putting up a bid because Ghana stands tall when it comes to digitalisation.”
He stated that throughout the past 72 hours, he has communicated with his counterparts in each of the 54 African states to let them know what Ghana’s presidency of the AU and the STC-CICT will accomplish for both the continent and their own nations.
Sam George clarified that this is a chance to make President Mahama’s AU chairmanship one of the times when the AU establishes appropriate digital trade frameworks for the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to guarantee that smooth cross-border transfers, data flows, and logistic moves actually occur in reality.
“It is a golden opportunity to make regulatory harmonisation practical such that while the sovereignties of Africa states remain intact, data flow is enhances in a manner that allows a regulator in one country to approve a transfer from another country with no regulatory difficulties. We don’t need to rewrite the script – the script is already there – what we need is leadership and that is the kind of leadership Ghana intends to provide at the level of the AUC STC-CICT,” he reiterated.
He believes it will be much simpler to persuade all heads of state to accept the various digital trade frameworks and regulatory harmonisation protocols to free Africa from the control of the west when it comes to cross-border transfers now that President Mahama is the AU Chairperson.
Sam George pointed out that in order to ensure that cross-border transfers and settlements are started and completed entirely within Europe, even Europe has recently taken action to break free from US control.
Therefore, it is essential for Africa to follow the trend and take action to guarantee that all financial movements are started and settled inside the continent without requiring a dollarization procedure in New York.
He is optimistic that Ghana’s presidency of the AU would result in significant advancements in freeing Africa from the western digital grip.
Source: newsthemegh.com