COUNTRY FOCUS: GHANA
“
ADVENTGIS WAS THE
FIRST OF ITS KIND IN
AFRICA – NONE OF THE WESTERN
AFRICAN COUNTRIES HAVE THIS
KIND OF SOLUTION.
Results
It was clear at the outset that this would
be a lengthy and labour-intensive exercise
with huge ROI potential, both economically
and socially. Two years into the project,
more than 1,067,000 buildings have been
documented and data on 1,097,000
households collected.
The data collected is already being used in
several important ways:
• Private refuse collection companies – who
are paid direct by customers – are now
using the mapping system to identify and
serve new people
• The Land Valuation Board is currently
using the database to ensure that the
appropriate property taxes are applied
and collected
“For every stage, we got experts from other
countries, like the USA, India, Germany and
50
INTELLIGENTCIO
France who came and audited it and it is
compliant to UK standard,” said Sasmal.
“The Land Valuation Board has demanded
to know how much taxation each property
needs to pay, so by utilising these
systems, they are able to identify each
house and what type of taxation they
have. This is important for a developing
country because they need revenue being
generated and it is also good for the
general public.
“If you want to apply for a banking loan or a
passport, your address cannot be identified.
But because of our system, security, financial
and intelligence entities can utilise this
platform, so for a security point of view, it is
very good.
“Our systems have also mapped all power
distribution lines, so we can tell if there any
issues because power distribution companies
may not have the data.”
A blueprint for Africa
This is the first large-scale private sector
initiative in Africa – and possibly the world –
to map the buildings, streets and population
of an entire country. Ghana has created a
blueprint that fellow nations both inside and
outside of Africa can now follow.
“Our solution is very light and can work
with any kind of systems used by the
Government,” said Sasmal.
“It’s giving solutions to local issues and is a
local African product. Ghana can do what
many other Western African countries can
do. Africa is a continent where technology is
making the leap from one stage to another
and being a local Ghanaian company, we
can identify issues and make technology
more innovative to the continent. Our
company’s vision is to give something back
to society by giving innovative solutions, so
their livelihoods can be better.” n
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