Minister of Communications and Digitalisation in Ghana, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said in a statement at the end of the Girls-In-ICT Initiative celebration in Ahafo that the SIM card registration deadline will not be extended in the country. According to the government official, unregistered SIM cards will be effectively deactivated by late July 2022. Owusu-Ekuful believes subscribers and cell phone users have had enough opportunity and time to register their SIM cards, so, she advised cell phone users who have not yet registered to do so.
The SIM card registration campaign was scheduled to end on March 31, 2022. However, several factors slowed the process, including the lack of identification documents. Only fourteen million SIM cards had been registered as of March 17, while 7.5 million citizens had not yet received their national identification cards. For that, the deadline was extended to July 31.
It is expected that once the operation is complete, telecom operators will be able to develop demographic databases to target and improve services and offers. The data can also be used to better regulate the sector, fight cybercrime and improve e-government services in a time of rapid digital transformation.