Ghana Launches SIM Registration Overhaul, Eyes Startup Bill

Ghana has kicked off the most aggressive cleanup of its telecom register since SIM cards first appeared in the country, linking every number to the national biometric Ghana Card and setting an end-of-year clock on a companion Startup Bill that could reshape West Africa’s tech landscape. At a press briefing in Accra, Communications and Digital-Technology Minister Sam George said the new Legislative Instrument governing SIM registration will begin rolling out on 1 July 2025 and will “be fully enforced before December,” the same deadline he gave Parliament for passing the long-awaited Startup Act.

The SIM overhaul unfolds in three phases. First comes a biometric reconfirmation that will purge duplicate or fraudulent numbers; next, tighter controls on all new activations; and finally, a business-SIM audit that could deactivate thousands of unverified corporate lines. Telecom operators will plug directly into National Identification Authority servers so that every registration pings the Ghana Card database in real time. Officials say the integration should slash SIM-swap fraud and cut mobile-money phishing rings that have plagued the country’s fast-growing digital-payments ecosystem.

Running in parallel is the Startup Bill, a piece of legislation five years in the making. Draft clauses promise five-year corporate-tax holidays, duty-free import of R&D hardware and a fast-track work-visa lane for foreign engineers who join Ghanaian ventures. The law also earmarks a ₵500 million (≈ US $40 million) innovation fund and compels public institutions to pay invoices from certified startups within 30 days—a liquidity lifeline in a market where late payments can kill young firms. Minister George told reporters both reforms are designed to “clear regulatory bottlenecks that push our brightest talent to Lagos, Nairobi or London.”

For founders, the dual announcements answer two chronic pain points at once: SIM-registration headaches that slow customer onboarding, and the lack of a coherent incentive framework to keep early-stage companies alive after seed funding. Investors are already taking note; pan-African fund Flourish Ventures said in a memo the bill “moves Ghana to the top tier of Francophone-plus-Anglophone startup destinations,” while Lagos-based VC Microtraction hinted it will reopen its Accra office once the legislation clears.

Neighbouring Nigeria offers a cautionary tale. its own SIM re-registration drive froze millions of lines for months and spooked mobile-money investors. Ghana aims to avoid that fate by letting users confirm identity at any of 320 NIA offices or through a soon-to-launch selfie-verification app. Regulators say data sovereignty is protected: personal biometrics never leave local servers, satisfying the EU-style privacy rules embedded in Ghana’s 2023 Data Protection Amendment.

If Parliament hits the December deadline, Ghana will enter 2026 with one of the continent’s cleanest mobile ledgers and its most founder-friendly tax code—a combination policymakers hope will anchor Accra as the next big node in Africa’s startup network. For a country that already exports high-volume remittances, cocoa and gold, a robust pipeline of venture-backed tech companies could become Ghana’s newest—and most future-proof—resource.