Ghana’s Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation has extended the deadline for the ongoing SIM card re-registration campaign by four months, to 31 July. In a statement issued on Tuesday, sector minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful explained she had taken note of the challenges which have characterised the process since it began in October last year, particularly the large number of citizens who have yet to obtain the new biometric ID card required to complete the process.
‘Due to a number factors including the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents are yet to obtain Ghana Cards to enable them to register their SIM cards, it is clear that the deadline for the completion of the registration of the remaining active SIM cards cannot be met,’ the statement said. The minister also highlighted that more time will be required to update the SIM registration app for the registration of diplomats, while a self-service SIM registration app is also being developed to facilitate the registration of SIM cards for Ghanaians resident abroad. This is expected to be operational by mid-April.
According to the Ministry, as of 17 March 14.1 million SIM cards had been linked to the Ghana Card, 10.3 million bio-captures conducted and 99,445 new SIMs registered since the exercise began on 1 October 2021.