Under the theme; “Digital Economy-the untapped Resource for Accelerated Growth and Job Creation, the three day event is divided into five thematic areas including seminars on Thought Leadership; Appworld; Gamescon as well as a Job Fair and Exhibitions.
Opening the event, President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama commended the organizers for creating necessary platform to facilitate interaction and sharing of ideas and experiences.
He lauded the growth in the Telecommunications and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in the country.
The West African country has six mobile telecoms operators with more than 33 million subscribers, among a 27 million population while it also boasts of private Fourth Generation(4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) operators offering internet services across the country.
“Today, Ghana stands tall as one of the progressive ICT and telecom markets, and if we were to share the subscriptions among about 27 million people even new born babies would also have mobile phones,” Mahama observed, noting however that people have multiples of mobile telephone lines.
The president who was the Minister for Communications under the government of former President, Jerry Rawlings was one of the ministers who contributed greatly to the transformation of the telecommunications sector.
He contrasted the current situation to the days Ghanaians used to queue to make telephone calls from the state-run telecoms company.
The event which is the biggest ICT fare and exhibitions so far in the country has China’s mobile telecom giant Huawei as one of the lead sponsors.
Huawei Technologies Ghana Limited, which is one of the biggest technology players in Africa, renewed its position in January as a platinum sponsor for the event.
Mahama gave the assurance that he and his government would support such innovations as organizers of MOBEX are doing to get stronger and stronger.
George Spencer Quaye, Chief Executive Officer of Coasters Company Limited, organizers of MOBEX observed that technology and innovation is being powered by the internet all over the world as the most potent tools for accelerating global economic growth and human development in the 21stCentury.
“Economies are bracing themselves today for a wave of disruptions presenting multiple opportunities for new growth and development
“ This is an ongoing transformation of the global economy powered by the new economic phenomenon which is changing how we interact, affecting human relations and disrupting businesses,” Quaye noted.
Though the old cliché says ‘innovate or die’ Quaye cautioned that “today, it is ‘digitize or die’.”
On the first day of the event, hundreds of operators in the ICT and telecommunications sector from within and outside Ghana started exhibiting their wares. Enditem.
Source: Xinhua/NewsGhana.com.gh
