Ghana card will be recognized globally as an E-passport in 197 countries by April 2022 – Bawumia

Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has revealed that the Ghana card will be recognized as an electronic passport globally by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

According to Dr. Bawumia, the passport, which will have embedded microchip carrying information about the holder, can be read and verified in all International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) complaint borders.

This will be effective in 197 countries and 44,000 airports in the world.

“When this happens, holders of the Ghana card will be allowed to board any flight to Ghana. Furthermore, the good news for diasporan Ghanaians is that when the Ghana Immigration Service is linked to the NIA architecture, diasporan Ghanaians who hold the Ghana card should not have to obtain visas to travel to Ghana,” he added.

The Vice President made the announcement at the Ashesi University Campus on Tuesday, November 2 while addressing the topic: “Transforming an economy through digitalization: The Ghana story.”

Giving more details, Dr. Bawumia said government this year, had been engaging with the International Civil Aviation Organization to globally activate the e-passport function of the Ghana card.

He stated that as a result, the country is now a member of the organisation’s Public Key Directory community.

“I am happy to announce that on 13th of October 2021, Ghana officially became the 79th member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) community.

“Ghana’s Country Signing Certificate Authority would therefore soon be imported into the ICAO PKD System through what is known as a Key ceremony.”

This key ceremony for Ghana, Dr. Bawumia further added will be held at the ICAO headquarters in Montreal Canada by the 1^st quarter of 2022.