Over 4 million Ghanaians have successfully registered their SIM cards

Only 1.6 per cent of subscribers have completed SIM card registration

Communications Minister describes figure as very low

SIM card registration to deal with MoMo fraud

As of 19th November 2021, over 4 million Ghanaians have successfully completed the SIM card registration process.

The exercise which began on 1st October has so far seen 4,021,928 subscribers completing the process with the short code *404# out of the expected 40 million subscribers in Ghana.

Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful had hinted that plans are underway to introduce a mobile application that will aid self-registration in the ongoing national SIM card registration exercise.

According to her, only about two million of the population as of the end of October have been able to register successfully, a situation she describes as very low.

Speaking at the 11th Ghana Information Technology and Telecom Awards, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said, “A mobile application that will let individuals register at their own convenience without any delay. This is because looking at the figures it is just about two million SIM cards that had been registered so far and we have about 40 million cards nationwide to register”.

The Subscriber Identity Module Registration Regulations, 2011, L.I 2006 mandates network operators or service providers to activate a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) only after the subscriber registers the SIM as directed by the NCA.

According to her, every subscriber is required to provide the name and residential or occupational address, date of birth, in the case of an individual; and Certificate of Incorporation, in the case of a body corporate; or registration, in the case of a partnership or an unincorporated body of persons; and an identification document. Only the National Identity Card (Ghana Card) issued to an individual shall be used for registration of SIM cards of Citizens, Foreign Residents and Foreigners staying in Ghana for more than 90 days.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, during a press briefing earlier this year stated that the "SIM registration, when undertaken correctly as we intend to do, will reduce or eliminate fraudulent and criminal activities, help authorities ascertain the accurate number of valid and accurate SIMs on the networks, enable operators to build better demographics of their customer base and help them develop products and services to suit the various groupings".

She says the Regulator, NCA, will also get more accurate data to regulate the industry even better.

She indicated that SIM Registration will enhance economic growth as more confidence is built in the telecommunications sector and people utilize secure devices to access E-Government services and other private mobile based digital solutions. "It will minimize mobile money fraud and support financial inclusion across the vulnerable sectors," the Minister added. Read Full Story