President Akufo-Addo Inaugurates Abenaso Rural Telephony Project
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, on Friday, 3rd August, 2018, inaugurated the rural telephony
project, in Abenaso, in the Eastern Region, which will connect the town
and surrounding communities with ICT facilities and telecommunication
services.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President
Akufo-Addo noted that despite the significant spread of
telecommunications services across the country, the distribution of
basic telephony infrastructure is still very much concentrated in the
major economic centres of the country.
That is why, he explained that, Government continues
to attach great importance to ensuring that telecommunication and ICT
facilities, which can now be described as basic necessities of life, are
available in all parts of the country.
“Whilst Government is providing the requisite
communications infrastructure throughout the country, we are also
creating an enabling environment, through the policies implemented over
the last 19 months, to encourage private sector investment in the
communications sector,” he said.
Through the National Communications Authority, Ghana
Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), in partnership
with MTN (Gh) Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Ltd, the President stated
that his government has begun rolling out the rural telephony project,
which will provide data and voice connectivity to some one thousand, and
twenty (1,020), hitherto, unserved communities across the country.
“Indeed, the Abenaso rural telephony site, which I am
inaugurating today, is part of one hundred and sixty one (161) rural
telephony sites and eighty five (85) repeater sites which have been
completed within 18 months of my government, and which will be providing
voice and data connectivity to approximately five hundred (500)
communities across the country.
By the end of this year, a total of two hundred (200)
telephony sites, serving some one thousand (1,000) communities will
have been completed. This is to be compared to only seventy eight (78)
such telephony sites during the entire eight years of the Mills/Mahama
era,” the President revealed.
He continued, “Such is the commitment of Government
to ensuring the realization of today’s ceremony that taxes, such as VAT,
customs duties and other import levies, were waived for the equipment
brought into the country for the project. I express my deep appreciation
to our traditional authorities, across the country, for generously
donating parcels of land for the project to take off.”
The inauguration of the Abenaso Project, the
President said, will mean that Abenaso, together with four hundred and
ninety-nine (499) other rural communities across the country will enjoy
3G coverage.
President Akufo-Addo noted that expanding telephony
connectivity services to rural communities in the country “will help
open up Abenaso and other rural communities to opportunities for the
development of skills and knowledge, as well the growth of businesses
and the local economy”.
He elicited the help of the traditional authorities
in Abenaso and other beneficiary communities to “utilize fully the
opportunities that this project will bring to them. We would want to see
this project bring about a positive impact on the lives of residents of
this community and other beneficiary communities.”
President Akufo-Addo also urged the youth gathered
“to take advantage of the opportunities that will be afforded to you by
this facility. You are living in perhaps the most exciting time in our
history, so please make the best of it. Some say this is our time. I say
this is your time, and tomorrow will be the time of your children.”
He reiterated his commitment to building a new
Ghanaian civilization, “where fair opportunities are given to all to
live dignified, productive lives by dint of their hard work, creativity
and sense of enterprise. It is a promising phase in the Ghanaian
journey.”
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