In 2012, the World Bank signed an agreement with Ghana to work on an “eTransform” project. The Bank would provide $97 million to help digitize government services and improve connectivity.

12 years later and with the project coming to a close, has it yielded any real-world results?

The eTransform project in Ghana is a comprehensive initiative aimed at leveraging information technologies to improve public service operations and foster digital inclusion.

The project’s objective was to improve the targeting of government resources, enhance the efficiency and coverage of priority government services, and nurture entrepreneurship and job creation through ICT-enabled entrepreneurship.

Some of the project components included:

Unique electronic identification systems innovative applications to improve service delivery in health, education, judicial, and parliamentary services development of internet and computer networks across Ghana.

Grants were provided to young entrepreneurs, with tech hubs like the Ghana Tech Lab, the Ghana Innovation Hub in Accra, and the Kumasi Business Incubator in Kumasi boosting entrepreneurial skills for over 11,000 young people.

By the numbers

The original eTransform Ghana project was approved in 2012 with a $97 million commitment from the World Bank.

In 2020, the World Bank agreed to provide an additional $115 million in financing. In total, the project is estimated to have a total financing amount of US$212 million.