Ghana is set to launch a Universal QR Code in December to leverage on digital technology for electronic payment. The QR Code would allow businesses and traders to undertake electronic transactions without Point of Sale devices. Ghana’s Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia announced this at the third Chamber Business Awards organised by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Accra over the weekend.

“Next month, Ghana will launch the Universal QR Code which will just leverage on the technology that we have built for electronic payments. Essentially, all businesses and traders will no longer need Point of Sale (PoS) devices, but rather, their mobile phones will be sufficient for them to receive and make electronic payment transactions,” Bawumia said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• The Universal QR code comprised squares of black and white blocks, which can be scanned by smartphones with the aim of making it easier for businesses to accept electronic payments.
• Singapore, China and the United Kingdom had already launched the Universal QR Codes last year, and should Ghana go ahead to launch it, it would become the first country in Africa to do so.

Read also: Ghana ’s Gov’t To Launch A $20 Million Startup and Small Businesses Fund In 2020

Paperless Hospitals

• According to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia Ghana will also in the next two years complete the paperless system for all hospitals and CHPS compounds in the country.
• If implemented, the paperless healthcare delivery system will bring down the cost of accessing medical care.

“Some hospitals have gone paperless. Others are going paperless and so for us, we want to complete the process right down to the CHPS compounds. That will help us in the delivery of quality health services and bring down the cost of healthcare There is so much fraud in the system. Once we have the paperless system, we can move patients from one hospital to another and they will not have to carry their folders along”, Bawumia said. 

Ghana began the implementation of the paperless clearing system on September 1, 2017, to speed up the process of clearing goods from two weeks to four hours, and ensure order at the port, whilst blocking loopholes.

Bawumia noted that revenue has since increased from GH?130 million in the first week of September 2016, to GH?213 million in the same period for 2017.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world