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Category: For Ghanaians

  • Accra to Kumasi VIP Bus Booking now online with myTicketGH app

    Accra to Kumasi VIP Bus Booking now online with myTicketGH app

    Looking to travel from Accra to Kumasi and need to book a bus? Well, you can now do it online.

    One of the biggest transport operators in Ghana, V.I.P Jeoun Transport services has partnered with myticketgh.com, an E-ticketing solutions provider championing digital transformation in Ghana to offer a convenient and easy way for travellers to purchase travel tickets online from the comfort of their homes and offices.

    For travellers to book their seats in advance to Kumasi, they can simply purchase tickets via the website www.myticketgh.com or download the “myTicketGH” app from the Google Play store on any Android device and also on Appstore for iOS.

    The new digital service is currently available for travellers travelling from Accra to Kumasi but it will be made available to travellers going to other destinations within Ghana in the near future.

  • How to process your online Ghana Passport Application in 30 minutes

    How to process your online Ghana Passport Application in 30 minutes

    Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has introduced a premium passport acquisition and processing service to help online passport applicants.

    In order to do this the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened a premium passport acquisition and processing centre to assist online passport applicants.

    According to Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the service will be implemented in partnership with VFS Ghana office and will be at an extra fee of GHS 50 ($10.29).

    After touring the centre, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said the new facility and system is to offer the public an easier passport application process within a customer friendly environment.

    “The Centre will employ modern technology in its service delivery, cater solely for online passport applications with a reasonable service charge in addition to the approved passport application fee of either GHS 50.00 (for standard applications) or GHS 100.00 (for express applications),” the Foreign Minister said.

    Mrs Botchwey emphasized that “among the value-added services to be offered by the Application Centre will include access to Premium Lounge, assistance with the filling of application forms, website appointment system, call centre, and email help desk services”.

    “Coming on board of the new Passport Application Centre is to basically complement the work of the existing Passport Application Centre. It is envisaged that the success of the new Passport Application Centre would lead to the extension of similar facilities across other regional capitals to ensure that every Ghanaian citizen is provided with the desired services in respect of passport acquisition,” she said.

    The Country Representative of VFS Global in Ghana, Kofi Karikari Appau, said applicants have about two weeks to receive their passports at the premises of the Accra Digital Centre.

  • An itsy-bitsy look at what to expect in Tech in 2019

    An itsy-bitsy look at what to expect in Tech in 2019

    From phone companies copying Apple’s notch design to widely leaked pixel 3, 2018 came with its fair share of interesting mobile technology and with flagship phones being released every year, 2019 is likely to follow the same trend. From Mobile World Congress to Tech October, here are some of the most anticipated events of 2019.

    Mobile World Congress

    This is the hub where all good things mobile phones and accessories are showcased and it happens every year in Barcelona and this year is scheduled for the 25th to the 28th of February.

    With so many leaks, perhaps the highlight of the show will be the Samsung Galaxy S10. With the hope of 3 models to be released and almost no bezels, the hype is well deserved. We would also see many phones with less and fewer bezels. Wearables also made their way to MWC and we might have Google watch or an update to Wear OS. Who knows?

    Health Tech Summit

    With the launch of smartwatches, the health sector has been revolutionized as heartbeats can be tracked almost all the time instead of once a month at the doctor’s and calorie intake and burn can be measured day by day just to name a few. Health Tech summit shows the world major advancements in this emerging tech zone and is definitely an event to keep an eye on.

    Tech October

    Tech October can be broken down into 3 companies: Apple, Google and Microsoft.

    Microsoft

    Each year Microsoft release its Surface Pro’s, Surface Laptops and the Surface books which have been received with much success and 2019 promises to be more exciting.

    Apple

    Not too much to be said here as this is probably what most people are waiting for. However, we would see whether Apple would still the notch and form factor of the iPhone Xs or change for a no notch form. We would also anticipate the new iPads and hopefully Airpods 2.

    Google

    Every year, the pixel holds the crown for the worlds best smartphone camera and we would see if this is the case for 2019. We would also see Android 10/Q rolling out and we live to see what new things it might bring. The Pixel slate might get a retouch or be discontinued, we never know.

    Somewhere along the line, we might see Huawei bring out its weapons into the smartphone world. The Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro were well received and Huawei may just continue that trend.

    Other companies to look out for are Oneplus and Xiaomi who always bring great budget phones into the market. Oneplus is reportedly working on a 5G phone which is definetely a phone to look out for. Gaming phones, which are a promising market may also have some new additions to their line-up and that will be great to see.

  • Tech in Ghana: A roundup of 2018 | Mfidie.com

    Tech in Ghana: A roundup of 2018 | Mfidie.com

    The Tech niche in Ghana is gaining good grounds month after month, especially with wonderful Individuals like yourself reading what’s going on here on Mfidie.com and with the investment of the hardworking men and women and organisations who keep doing great stuff for the tech culture.

    Kudos!

    2018 has been a great year for the techies and non-techies alike in Ghana as we have had more tech only focused events more than ever. We have also had movements and communities wake up and embrace tech as a whole.

    Consumers, on the other hand, have been more interested in gadgets and have used many tech blogs locally to inform their purchasing decisions.

    The government also does not seem to be left out, and even though some of its projects have raised questions, it is generally a good feeling to see digitalisation from the government.

    Today, we would recap some of the notable happenings in Ghana’s tech space over the last twelve months. Hope you enjoy it and keep your comments coming – we might have missed some juicy stuff.

    Gadgets

    Probably the biggest aspect of tech that a lot of Ghanaians are involved in. We would focus on OEMs who specifically target the Ghanaian Market.

    Infinix Ghana started the year with the Infinix S3. Later in the year, the S3X, Hot 6, Hot 6 Pro and the Hot 6X all followed.

    No big differences were in the variants, especially on the side of aesthetics, except for some with notches and some didn’t.

    By the way, a lot of us were expecting to see a launch of the Infinix Zero 6 this year. However, it appears we have to wait till 2019.

    Nokia is probably the unsung hero in 2018 when it comes to gadgets this year. With phones for all budgets, users and purposes, we saw the launch of the Nokia 2.1, Nokia 3.1, Nokia 5.1 all coming unto the market.

    The beginning of the year saw the introduction of the powerful Nokia 8 too. And the Nokia 6.1 (a personal favourite) was released in the last quarter of this year.

    Nokia has focused on popular all screen design, powerful processing speed and stronger battery life while also largely committing to Android one.

    We started off this year by announcing that TECNO Mobile was looking at releasing 3 Oreo phones very early in 2018. Well, we got more than 3 phones.

    By December of 2018, The Tecno Camon CM, Tecno Camon X and X Pro, the TECNO Spark 2 and the Tecno Camon 11 and 11 Pro were all released.

    Competition Wins for Ghana

    Outside the country, Ghanaian Startups and companies are winning big in competitions. Super proud!

    In November 2018, Ghanaian-registered technology company – Henson Geodata Technology came second place out of 20 finalists throughout the continent at the 2018 Feed the Future Fall Armyworm Tech Prize in Cape Town. Famerline also Ghana-based won $50,000 in the same competition.

    Dext Technology also won the $100,000 prize for their innovative Science Set – a mini science lab that contains materials and components to enable students to carry out basic experiments. The Awards ceremony took place at the African Union ‘Innovating Education in Africa Expo’, in Dakar, Senegal. Bringing together innovators, educators and policymakers from across the continent.

    Two Ghanaian start-ups, AkooBooks Audio and Neat Eco Foods also won $125,000 from a $1million prize pool at the 4th edition of the African Entrepreneurship Award Program held in Casablanca, Morocco in December 2018.

    “Hewale” a Ghanaian complete online hospital app developed by Orcons Systems Ltd won the most promising healthcare tech company of the year at the 2018 West African Healthcare Excellence Award.

    MEST EITs also won Ghana’s first NASA Space Apps Challenge. During the hackathon, they worked on a mobile application that allows users to upload pictures and locations of wildfires in order to alert the community and stop them from spreading.

    Government In Tech

    In recent times, the Government of Ghana has been looking at tech as a strong force. The Vice President, in particular, has eyed digitalising the country.

    In 2018, the Government continued to do more, building on 2017’s efforts.

    The Ministry of Business Development set eye on eCommerce by the launch of the Ghana Online Mall. It is supposed to serve as a directory for all businesses that will sign up onto the platform and make it possible for local vendors to sell hard-to-find handmade Ghanaian products. As at the time of writing this, there were 89 registered businesses in the directory.

    In October, the government set up Tech Innovation Hub at Accra Digital Centre. The Ghana Innovation Hub will function as an incubation space with co-working space, suited for start-ups and entrepreneurs, with a large events space for hosting events that will attract more established firms.

    Still, in October the National Cyber Security Awareness Month for 2018 was marked in Accra. The event was organised by the National Cyber Security Centre and the Ministry of Communications. The event was under the theme “A safer Digital Ghana”, was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, ministers of state, government officials, relevant state institutions and agencies among others.

    Award Ceremonies

    Hard work deserves recognition. In 2018, more tech targeted award schemes were held.

    Let’s start with what has now become one of the industry’s most prized honours.  GITTA 2018, which focused on Fintech saw awards in different categories with MTN winning a total of 12 awards.

    There was also the maiden edition of the Ghana eCommerce Awards which was held to recognise and award those making it in the eCommerce sector. Melcom Online, ZoobaShoop and Flutterwave emerged as some of the biggest winners on the night.

    The Maiden Mobex Innovation Awards was also held to honour enterprises and individuals transforming lives using technology. The awards set out to be very credible with judges made up of academics, industry experts, public officials, the private sector, entrepreneurs, company directors and scientists from around the African continent.

    More Tech

    There were other big events like the Tech in Ghana Conference 2018, Ghana Tech Summit and the Women in Tech Week 2018 which altogether brought leaders and learners in the tech space to learn and share ideas as well as celebrate achievements.

    Also in the year, the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology – MEST, announced seven startups receive $700,000 in total funding. This investment coincided with its 10th anniversary. The startups were ShareHouse, Nvoicia, Truckr, Jumeni, Judy, CodeIn and Bace.

    Mfidie.com

    Thank you for trusting us to deliver the best in tech for you in Ghana and beyond. This year, we reached new heights with over 1 million unique visitors and 3.7 million page views, together, we have made a statement that tech can be a standalone niche in Ghana.

    Much thanks to all the other tech blogs in Ghana keeping the niche alive: AccraConnect.com, GeekieWorld.com, Gharage.com, JBKlutse.com, KwesiArko.com, PCBossOnline.com, TechHabor.com, TechLifeGhana.com, TechNovaGh.com, TechTodayGh.com and TechVoiceAfrica.com.

    Did we miss any stuff you think should have been here? Kindly let’s hear you in the comments.

    Happy New Year!

  • Vodafone Ghana Secures LTE 4G Licence for faster internet in 2019

    Vodafone Ghana Secures LTE 4G Licence for faster internet in 2019

    Vodafone Ghana has officially reached an agreement with the National Communications Authority (NCA) for the purchase of one slot of the 2×5MHz frequency spectrum in the 800MHz band for mobile services.

    The slot, purchased at the cost of US$30million, was awarded to Vodafone following successful financial negotiations with the NCA, in line with the Authority’s published programme for the bid process. The award paves the way for Vodafone to operate an LTE 4G spectrum frequency to enhance the user experience for its customers.

    Commenting, Yolanda Cuba, Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana, said:

    “We are excited that after three years of persistent constructive engagement with the regulator and policymakers, we now have the opportunity to operate an LTE 4G licence in Ghana. We are happy that our customers will finally experience faster data speed starting next year. Vodafone is committed to continuously work with the regulator to promote digital inclusion in the country, for which the 4G spectrum will play a critical role. It will also enable Vodafone to work with the government on its agenda of digitising Ghana’s economy.

    I would like to thank our shareholders – the government of Ghana which has 30 per cent shares, and Vodafone Group with 70 per cent shares in Vodafone Ghana – for their commitment to our operations and their support in our quest to deploy 4G in Ghana. With such a strong partnership between our shareholders, Vodafone Ghana is optimistic about a great future for our customers and the country”.

    Vodafone believes that the access to 4G spectrum that it has now will contribute to its vision of igniting Ghana’s digital revolution. The company is set to commence an active technical process in the coming weeks to align its infrastructure to deliver 4G to its customer base early next year. The licence also highlights a positive end to the year for Vodafone Group, which is celebrating a decade of existence in Ghana’s telecoms industry.

  • Premium Ghana Passport Centre to cost GHS 50 more for express service

    Premium Ghana Passport Centre to cost GHS 50 more for express service

    A new passport application centre has been commissioned to enable Ghanaians to acquire passports in a short period.

    The new Premium Passport Application Centre which is located at the Accra Digital Centre will enable applicants to go through the passport application process within 30 minutes but at an additional charge of GHS 50.

    The move is a collaboration between government and international company, VFS Global, to address the cumbersome processes which have characterized passport applications in Ghana.

    According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, similar facilities will be established in other parts of the country to make passport acquisition more convenient.

    “The Ministry is still committed that additional passport offices are established in each region to ensure that each Ghanaian has easy access to apply for their passport in every regional capital in Ghana without necessarily travelling outside their respective regions.

    “It is against this backdrop that the ministry through the approval of cabinet has engaged the services of VFS Ghana Limited, a specialized business process outsourcing agency to provide front offices for receiving online passport application. This is aimed at providing the Ghanaian public with the option of improving with respect to online passport application in a seamless convenient manner,” the Foreign Minister said.

    How the Passport Centre will operate

    Madam Ayorkor Botchwey also outlined the process by which Ghanaians who want to use the premium service will have to undergo.

    “Passport applicants who want to use this service, will go through the vetting and do their passport applications as usual. They will fill the form online, be vetted and then be given an appointment date. Afterwards, all their data will be captured and then they will make payment of GHS 50 and GHS 100 for standard and the premium services respectively”.

    “It is just another passport office just like the one we have at the old Ministry of Foreign Affairs office. Everything will be done so it goes through the superior vetting at the regional office and then the passport booklet is issued. So, it is the same process we have at our passport offices. This is to give Ghanaians many more options to acquire their passports”, she added.

    In November 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration announced that Ghanaians can now acquire passport forms online.

    This change was announced among what appears to be a series of reforms in the acquisition of passports.

    According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the forms which used to cost between GHS 50 and GHS 100 and mostly sold in the banks will now be free.

  • Ecobank Launches ‘Ecobank Xpress Money Promotion’ for easier money transfers

    Ecobank Launches ‘Ecobank Xpress Money Promotion’ for easier money transfers

    Ecobank Ghana in its effort to work around the cash-lite and financial inclusion mentioned by the government has taken a step further to launch Ecobank Xpress Money Promotion as an incentive to provide an enabling financial environment for sustained economic growth.

    Ecobank Xpress Account is needed to give Ghanaians the platform to transact business and make payments across 34 countries online.

    According to the Managing Director of Ecobank Dan Sackey, the Xpress Account is “one of the surest ways by which we can contribute to making Ghana a cash-lite, society.”

    “If the country does not need to print note of currency, we are saving the resources of the country. It is a must that Ghanaians engage in cash-lite economy and indeed cashless communities,” he urged.

    Speaking at a press launch, Mr. Dan Sackey said the Ecobank mobile application sets the pace in the banking sector to take in Ghana’s unbanked population; adding that the financial inclusion campaign requires a concerted effort and cannot be done alone.

    The Ecobank Express Account is a self-service, real-time, online digital account or wallet that is easily operated on the mobile phone.

    With a registered SIM, one can download the Ecobank Mobile App, open an Ecobank Xpress Account instantly and start transacting business.

    “Currently, you can withdraw or deposit money into your Xpress account from any of the over 1,500 designated Ecobank Xpress Point locations around the country. You can also send and receive money to and from any bank account or mobile money wallet in Ghana as well as send and receive money across the 34 countries we operate within Africa,” Mr Sackey stated.

    Explaining how the promotion works, Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank, Tara Squire said a deposit of Ghc50 or more into the Ecobank Xpress Account at any Xpress Point gives the customer the chance to win their share of over Ghc500,000 in cash and instant airtime or data.

    “The Ecobank Xpress Money Promotion is aimed at rewarding customers with a deposit of Ghc50 or more. Every week, 133 customers will be rewarded and a deposit of Ghc50 into your Xpress Account gives you one slot and so the more the money, the more your chance to win big. First deposit attracts instant reward in the form of airtime or data. The interest rate on this promotion is 4 percent and it is running now up to March 8, 2019,” he explained.

    He reiterated that the launch is a mass drive aimed at encouraging customers and the public to use the Ecobank Xpress Account for payments in place of cash transactions; thus the Xpress Point has created job opportunities for Ghanaians.

    “Non-customers are encouraged to open the Ecobank Xpress Account instantly, fund it and use it for transactions for cash prizes as the promotion lasts for 3 months,” he added.

  • All Set for Ghana’s Biggest Night in eCommerce

    All Set for Ghana’s Biggest Night in eCommerce

    All is now set for the biggest night in Ghana’s ecommerce industry as nearly 200 guests and nominees gear up for the maiden Ghana eCommerce Awards tomorrow at the Swiss Spirit Alisa Hotel!

    Organized by OML Africa and under the theme, “Celebrationg Excellence and Innovation in Ghana’s Online Business Industry”, this important event will see over 30 individuals and organizations walking up the stage to win the bragging rights and a deserved recognition of their hardwork.

    Some Of The Categories Are:

    • Best Male Ecommerce Entrepreneur
    • Best Online Retailer Of The Year
    • Best New Online Retailer
    • Best Small Independent Retailer (2-10 Employees)
    • Best Online Retail Marketing
    • Best Site Optimization & Design
    • Best Mobile Ecommerce Experience
    • Best Ecommerce Innovation
    • Best Multi-channel Retailer
    • Best E-government Experience
    • Best Social Media Campaign
    • Best Omni-channel Customer Service
    • Best In-store Initiative
    • Best Delivery/courier Service-ecommerce
    • Melcom Best Female Ecommerce Entrepreneur
    • Best Ecommerce Payment Company/fintech
    • Best Innovation In Ecommerce-payments
    • Esoko Best Online Food Delivery Platform
    • Best Online Hotel Booking Site
    • Best Online Taxi
    • Best Online Betting Site
    • Best Bitcoin Company

    Honorary Awards

    • Best eCommerce Entrepreneur
    • Best eCommerce Entrepreneur
    • Best Ghanaian-Owned eCommerce Company
    • Pioneering Role in Development of Ecommerce in Ghana
    • Outstanding Contribution to Fighting Cyber Fraud
    • Outstanding Contribution to Fighting Cyber Fraud (Corporate Division)
    • Outstanding Contribution to the Digitized Agriculture
    • Best Online Superstore of the Year
    • The Entertainment

    It will be an enchanting night of poetry, cultural extravaganza mixed with modern Ghanaian r&b and soul, with the likes of legendary Rhyme Sonny, budding songstress Mabiina and the silky smooth Trigmatic all performing on the night!

    Tickets!

    So, join us for the celebration of the year! Come cheer your favourite online shops and their teams to victory! Tickets are GHC550 per ticket with huge discounts for double or group tickets.
    Call 0206367515 or click hereor email: [email protected] or dial 714*42#

    Programme

    6.30-7.30pm Registration/ Cultural Display/ Business Networking

    7.30 pm Organizers’ Speech

    7.35 pm Dinner/ Live Band featuring Mabiina

    8.35 pm Poetry-Rhyme Sonny

    8.40 pm Honorary Awards

    9.00 pm Trigmatic Musical Performance

    9.15 pm Competitive Awards

    10.15 pm DJ’s Jam till u Drop

    Almost every household has an unsolved Rubiks Cube but you can esily solve it learning a few algorithms.

  • Visa and leading banks bring mobile payments to Ghana

    Visa and leading banks bring mobile payments to Ghana

    Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, in partnership with leading Ghanaian banks, has announced the launch of Visa on mobile, its innovative mobile payment service in Ghana.

    From today, the partnership commences with four Ghanaian banks who have either enabled Visa on mobile on their mobile banking applications and/or have acquired merchants to be able to accept the service. CAL Bank and Zenith Bank customers will access the service via their banking application. Ecobank customers have the USSD and banking application option while GTBank customers will access via USSD. Merchants aggregated through Expresspay will also accept Visa on mobile.

    Visa on mobile is an easy and secure payments solution for Ghanaian customers. It allows customers to directly access funds in their bank accounts to pay merchants (person-to-merchant or P2M) or individuals (person-to-person or P2P). The payment goes straight from the consumer’s bank account into the merchant’s account and provides real-time notification to both parties at no cost. The introduction of this solution reduces cost and friction for accepting electronic payments as these mobile transactions are processed with the same scale, security and reliability as any other Visa transaction

    Speaking at the launch, Oluwakemi Okusanya, Group Country Manager for Visa West Africa said, “Visa and its financial institution partners are providing the benefits of digital commerce to potentially everyone, everywhere across Ghana and the African continent, bringing more people into the formal financial system. More and more small and medium scale merchants come on board every day as they begin to understand the benefits that Visa on mobile brings, including real-time notifications of payments entering their bank account and access to sales and transactions history.”

    Adoma Peprah, Country Manager for Visa Ghana said, “According to the Global Findex report, Ghana is among the most successful and fastest growing mobile money markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. In four years, mobile money penetration rose from 13 per cent to 39 per cent. The launch of Visa on mobile is significant to the expansion of an already vibrant mobile payment ecosystem as it is accepted at thousands of locations across the country, with plans to have more banks and merchants join the network over the next few months. We have communications campaigns lined up for the coming months to support our bank partners, merchants and educate customers on Visa on mobile at various locations across Ghana”

    The Visa on mobile implementation in Ghana benefited from the Visa Developer Platform, which allowed all partner banks the ability to integrate the Visa on mobile APIs directly into their mobile banking apps. While rolling out a new solution with a bank typically can take a very long time from development to implementation and testing, utilizing the Visa Developer Platform interface reduced the time taken significantly. This helped to speed up the number of banks who have been able to roll out the Visa on mobile solution in Ghana.

    Visa on mobile is now live in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Rwanda and Egypt with plans to launch in other African countries underway.

  • 15% Off-Enjoy Black Friday Offer to Attend eCommerce Awards!

    15% Off-Enjoy Black Friday Offer to Attend eCommerce Awards!

    We are very happy to tell you that our Black Friday offer has started!

    Take advantage of this offer and join on the biggest night on Ghana’s eCommerce calendar-the Ghana eCommerce Awards on 30th November at the SwissSpirit Alisa Hotel.

    Come let’s celebrate excellence and innovation in Ghana’s online business industry – now with a 15% discount!

    Meet the NOMINEEES

    Full List of Nominees for Ghana eCommerce Awards 2018

    The Awards Event

    6.30 pm Cocktail Reception/ Red Carpet
    7.30 pm Dinner and Awards
    11.30 pm Close of Awards Ceremony
    11.30 pm DJ

    Offer lasts till midnight, Monday 26th November 2018

    Click here to enjoy 15% Discount

    or call 0206367515 or email: [email protected]