IMANI Centre for Policy and Education Vice-President and Head of Research Bright Simons says concerns about US access to Ghanaian data would require the country to build its own email services.
Speaking at Joy News’ Digital Economy Forum on AI and the Ghana Economy on Wednesday, he pointed to the use of foreign email platforms as a challenge for those seeking greater control over their information.
“So if we’re worried about our data being exposed to the U.S. government, then we have to literally build our own email services because already the U.S. government sees everything that you put on Gmail or any of those things.”
Simons made the claim while discussing data exposure and the policy choices surrounding digital services.
He also urged policymakers to remove obstacles that prevent ordinary people from benefiting from technology.
Drawing on ride-hailing and delivery services, he said many users had acquired practical digital skills without formal training.
“The second point is that when you look at Uber and all the ride-sharing apps and all the e-commerce apps, a lot of the people that have benefited are ordinary people. Nobody taught them how to use mapping services.”
He said people had learnt to use geolocation and mapping tools to deliver food and support other commercial activities.
For Simons, such experiences should shape how government approaches the digital economy. He argued that regulation could obstruct opportunities when obligations were introduced without sufficient consideration of their effects.
“I’m a big believer in the fact that when it comes to those kinds of things, typically the government is an impediment rather than an enabler.”
He recalled opposing attempts to impose licensing requirements and local government obligations on ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Bolt.
He also cited the public backlash over proposed licensing requirements for developers in Ghana as evidence that policy decisions have practical consequences.
“So we have to think about policy as also to include the things that remove barriers and bottlenecks for ordinary people,” he said.
Simons pointed to the widespread use of WhatsApp and the growth of YouTube creators as further examples of people developing digital capabilities outside formal classrooms.
“Who builds schools to teach people how to use WhatsApp? Who builds schools to teach influencers how to do YouTube influencing?”
He maintained that identifying regulatory obstacles was essential to making technology useful to ordinary people.
“Often they are impediments and bottlenecks in their way, and people like us who point them out should not be seen as discussing theory. It’s very practical.”