Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has reiterated the government's commitment to addressing challenges in the informal economy through the implementation of the Ghana Card, a crucial element of the digitalization agenda.

Speaking at the 20th edition of the Ghana Club 100 Awards on Saturday, December 9, the NPP flagbearer highlighted the adverse effects of the informal economy, including issues like age cheating, identity fraud, and the proliferation of counterfeit documents such as insurance, birth certificates, and passports.

Dr. Bawumia stressed the significance of transitioning from an informal economy to a more disciplined and transparent system, pointing out the problems associated with informality, such as corruption, lawlessness, tax evasion, and an unbanked society.

To tackle these challenges and unlock the transformative potential of the economy, the Vice President noted that the government initiated a formalization process, with the digitalization initiative playing a crucial role and the Ghana Card serving as its anchor.

He emphasized that by digitizing government services through Ghana.gov.gh and other initiatives, the government aims to enhance transparency, clarity, and efficiency in the system.

Dr. Bawumia stated that these measures contribute to reducing corruption, as services can be accessed without the need for bribes. He highlighted the inherited issues of the informal economy, including corruption, lawlessness, tax evasion, and identity fraud, which made it challenging for the economy to reach its full potential.

The government's focus on formalization and digitalization aims to create a transparent and disciplined economic system.

“You look at an economy in the informal sense which turned to be undisciplined, the society is undisciplined because the economy is informal and there are no consequences for bad actions, you have a society where corruption prevails, you have lawlessness, you have a tax dodging society, you have an unbanked society, you have a loan repayment dodging society, identity fraud, people assuming identities of others, lack of address systems, age cheating, fake insurance, fake birth certificates, fake passports, no functional address systems, ghost workers on government payrolls.”

“These ills of the informal economy that we really inherited made it very difficult for the economy to transform to its potential. That is why we set out to formalize the economy to make sure that the economy works in a transparent system. In that area of formalisation of the economy we realized heavily on digitalization of the economy to formalize the economy.”