Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John A. Kumah has assured business owners that government will upscale the nation’s cybersecurity efforts to create enabling cyberspace for businesses to thrive.

Speaking at the launch of a web and mobile app by Property Trader Limited in Accra, he said the digitisation of the economy remained high on government’s agenda, adding that it would continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that businesses are protected, especially digitally.

“For every business that is created, opens an opportunity not only for employment but reduction in poverty, thereby, improving the standard of living of Ghanaians and economic growth. This is the more reason why the government will not stop at anything in its efforts to ensure an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive,” he said.

The App dubbed: “Property TraderGh Web and Mobile App,” is a new digital platform that offers users the opportunity to buy and sell, swap, and exchange as well as rent and lease properties in Ghana and beyond in a safe, secured, and convenient manner.

The Deputy Finance Minister said the introduction of electronic services such as the digitisation of postal services, passport services, birth registration as well as the biometric National Identity Card showed government’s commitment to digitise every sector of the economy.

He noted that the property trading sector was bedeviled with numerous challenges including fraudulent middlemen defrauding unsuspecting home seekers, which required urgent measures to protect both buyers as well as sellers.

He, therefore, commended Property Trade Limited for developing such a platform, which he said would bring sanity into the space.

He added that the launching of the app would boost government’s efforts at ensuring the development of an enabling environment to support the digitisation of not only government’s business but the entire economy.

Dr. Richard Amponsah, Chief Executive Officer of Property Trader Limited, said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how increasingly dependent the world has become on technology.

He said the web and mobile app, had, therefore, been established to give credence to government’s digitisation efforts and contribute to job creation.

He indicated that the platform would generate direct and indirect jobs including the creation of employment for professionals such as business developers, investment officers, valuers, administrators, and rent agents.

Research from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UNESCO in the 2019 report launched by the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Goals indicates that “more than 50 percent of the world’s population is now online.

It added that by 2022, another 1.2 billion new users were likely to be added.

Commending government for the progress made in its digitisation efforts, Dr. Amponsah appealed to the government to support business associations such as the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as Small and Medium Enterprises to digitalise their operations to facilitate job creation.

He assured users of the platform of their safety saying appropriate security measures had been put in place to detect any fraudulent activity on the platform.

Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana urged government to fast-track the development of a robust framework to support the digitisation of the economy to bring benefits to all.