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The Ghana market is not prepared for e-commerce due
to two major factors, the culture does not trust what is not seen
and there is no established credit card market. Unless the international
market is pursued, Ghana will not be ready for transacting business
via e-commerce methods. Small to medium size businesses are not yet
conscious of the possibilities of IT. Like India, Ghana is trying
to initiate relations with the Ghanaian Diaspora abroad. They are
creating offices in the US and England that administer the marketing
and sales operations for the execution area of the business that is
based in Ghana. This same model is proving to also be scalable into
software development and call center areas. |
Business-to-Customer Commerce (Stage
1) |
There are some cash on delivery services for restaurants
and some of the successful Internet ventures are those that sell handicrafts.
Businesses fundamentally use ICT in Ghana for correspondence. The
Ministry of Local Government, for example, uses its computers for
straightforward word processing rather than for database management
purposes. More than 53.1% of companies do not offer complete Internet
access to their employees. Access is typically granted only to the
IT department staff and top level administration. The remaining employees
have shared access or no access at all. Even if there was demand,
the lack of readily available equipment would hamper citizens from
taking full advantage of electronic commerce.
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Business-to-Business (Stage 2) |
The small numbers of dealings that do occur over the
Internet entail assisting credit-card validation services from overseas.
There is no local business to business commerce. B2B commerce exists
predominately through multinationals doing work with clients and partners
abroad. There is some cash on delivery service for restaurants and
some successful Internet ventures whom sell handicrafts over the web.
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e-Government (Stage 2) |
E-procurement throughout the government is considered
a positive means to drive e-commerce forward. Through such government
projects, the public sees the administration buying into technology
and that conveys hope.
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