SECTOR 2 Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 3.3 (2006:n/a; 2008:n/a; 2011:n/a; 2013:4.3) 2.11 The country has a coherent ICT policy and/or the government implements promotional measures, which aim to meet the information needs of all citizens, including marginalised communities. Ghana’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Policy, the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy, was adopted in 2003. In 2005, the National Telecoms Policy (NTP) came into being, with the overarching objective that “every citizen and resident of the Republic of Ghana shall have available, high quality and affordable access to information and communication services, to help transform Ghana into a knowledge-based society and technology-driven economy.” In this vein, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) was set up to promote universal access to the Internet. “In terms of national capacity, we’ve landed 5 submarine cables for data connectivity. And at the moment, only 5 percent of national capacity is utilised, so there is huge capacity,” and the NCA has awarded licences to various Internet Service Providers in this regard. Outside of the GIFEC Fund, the state’s approach is to let the private sector drive access. “This means that once [the] state does its bit in ensuring the right policies are there, the question becomes how well private sector has done in terms of these policies and deploying them fully.” But while good policies and infrastructure are certainly in place, Ghana “is not a society driven by access to information through technology,” and, “government does not use technology appreciably in terms of how it conducts itself.” “Yes, students can access their exam results online, but beyond that, government does not bother with bringing citizens in contact with technology.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER GHANA 2017 39