The GSM Association (GSMA) has predicted that mobile operators will make more money from data than from voice by 2018. The prediction falls in line with local operators’ decision to align their services toward enhancing user experience in data services, which has helped to increase mobile broadband penetration in the country by more than three-fold to 23% within 12 months. According to the GSMA, which represents mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardising, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system, the surge in connected devices and the growth of machine-to-machine communications are creating huge demand. Currently, fixed (wired)-broadband penetration remains marginal; but mobile broadband took off with a remarkable surge in penetration from seven per cent in 2010 to 23 per cent in 2011, which is comparable to that of many developed countries. This makes Ghana the country with the highest mobile-broadband penetration in Africa. In the latest GSMA report, it lays out some of the ways that mobile is transforming lives, particularly in the developing world. “Mobile health services could help save one million lives in Africa,” it said. The five-year forecasts were released to coincide with Mobile World Congress -- the association's annual tech event in Barcelona. The fight against deadly diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and the ongoing fight against HIV will increasingly be helped by the greater use of mobile connectivity, according to the report. Some 240 tonnes of food spoils during transit and in storage every year, but using mobile to track trucks and monitor the temperature of storage facilities could save enough food to feed 40 million people in 2017 -- equivalent to the entire population of Kenya -- it said. Meanwhile, the use of mobile handsets, e-readers and tablets could put 1.8 million more children in education by 2017, it suggested. "Mobile data is not just a commodity, it is becoming the lifeblood of our daily lives, society and economy, with more and more connected people and things," said Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer at GSMA. The association predicted that the US and UK will see data revenues exceeding voice by 2014. Argentina will get there even earlier, it said, reaching the milestone in 2013; while Kenya, one of Africa's most connected countries, will hit the target in 2016. It is not just the developing world that will benefit. It predicted that mobile health services will shave US$400bn (£265m) off the OECD countries' annual healthcare bill by 2017. It added that connected cars could save one in nine lives through emergency calling services, and smart metering could cut carbon emissions by 27 million tonnes the equivalent of planting 1.2 billion trees. GSMA's members benefit from it publicising the benefits of their creations. However, the wider mobile phone industry has also faced criticism in the past about pollution caused by toxic substances which can leak from some devices if they are dumped in landfill sites, and evidence that some manufacturers have employed underage workers.

By Patrick PAINTSIL Deputy Governor of Bank of the Ghana (BoG) Mr. Millison Narh has affirmed that policy harmonisation and coordination across the West African sub-region is essential for successful and effective economic integration. He said West African countries in the quest to enlarge their economies cannot afford to be implementing uncoordinated and divergent policies, because this would be detrimental to regional integration ideals. Mr. Narh, who was speaking on challenges confronting payment system development in West Africa at the official opening of a two-day roundtable discussion on switch integration in the sub-region, said it is only through regional and sub-regional integration and cohesion that progress toward economic growth and development will be hastened. The conference, under the theme “Getting Off the Starting Block -- Hitting the Stride”, will galvanise key players to deliberate and come out with concrete ideas to move forward the payment systems integration process across the sub-region. “After two decades of financial reforms, payment systems in West Africa still remain cumbersome, costly and inefficient -- a key impediment to intra-West Africa trade and the quest to achieve a common market. “Most sub-regional economies are cash-based, involving a lot of paperwork to effect payments and transact business across borders -- rendering the payment systems inefficient. In addition, payment systems are fragmented and lack competition, resulting in high payment costs and exorbitant bank charges,” Mr. Narh said He said despite the numerous setbacks, the trend can be reversed with a well-developed and cost-effective payment system that can serve as a catalyst for hassle-free movement of goods and people, reduce costs and delays, and as well minimise the risks of holding cash -- such as theft, currency counterfeit and loss of interest and exchange rate value. He advised countries within the sub-region to pursue reforms to upgrade their payment systems, modernising by taking advantage of technological advancement and other international developments to cope with increasing demands due to globalisation. “To reduce risks introduced by competition, there is need to strengthen governance, risk management, compliance and oversight of the financial infrastructure at national and regional levels,” he said. West African countries are making efforts at surmounting the challenges in order to take advantage of the numerous benefits of an efficient and effective payment system infrastructure. In Ghana, the Central Bank has embarked on various policy interventions to develop the payment system infrastructure; such as the passage of the Payment System Act, 2003 (Act 662), the issuance of the Guidelines for Branchless Banking in 2008, and the establishment of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPPS).