Businesses in Ghana to get digital certificates for easy identification online

The government of Ghana is rolling out a new policy to issue digital certificates to businesses and individuals, enhancing their online identification and fostering greater trust and reliability. This initiative was announced by the Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, during the Digital Trust Conference at the inaugural National ICT Week organized by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA).

Issuing digital certificates will enable Ghanaian businesses and entrepreneurs to build trust with partners and clients, as face-to-face transactions increasingly move to digital platforms. “This certification is crucial for expanding the scope and reliability of digital trust within Ghana’s digital landscape and beyond,” stated the minister.

NITA will later this year provide private entities with the authority and licenses to issue digital certificates to various businesses and individuals. These certificates will facilitate easy identification on digital platforms. The minister encouraged organizations interested in offering digital certificates to contact NITA.

The government has also registered Ghana with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the public key directory platform. This registration will allow for the cross-border sharing of digital certificates for authentication and verification purposes, ensuring that Ghana’s public key infrastructure (PKI) aligns with international best practices.

According to the minister, mobile money interoperability, the digital address system, and digital certification are the three pillars of the government’s digital transformation agenda. NITA‘s Chief Technical Officer, Solomon Kofi Richardson, announced that the agency will soon establish a section to grant licenses and authorizations for issuing various types of digital certificates to organizations and individuals.