He who feels it knows it. I once visited a friend who vented vehemently about not being able to do transactions on the online platform PayPal. He had a lot of business partners who wanted to pay money to him via PayPal. Initially, I did not really get the fuss about Ghana not being able to use the PayPal platform until I had to make some transactions myself. That was when I noticed how weighty the matter was.
It is therefore not surprising that Amoaning Samuel, one of Ghana’s elite bloggers and CEO of Entamoty Media Ltd, a leading Digital Marketing Agency in Africa has bemoaned the absurdity of how a country like Ghana with just a population of about 24 million does not have access to the online payment platform. The fact that Ghana “seem to have been blacklisted” by the company is inconceivable.
A couple of young hardworking Ghanaians jokingly say they are even willing to relocate to Togo or Cote D’Ivoire because PayPal is accessible in these neighboring countries.
It may appear as though just a few of Ghana’s Digital space users are the ones advocating for Ghana’s inclusion on the PayPal platform, but the gravity of the matter goes a large way in denting the image of the whole country.
Your frustration will even be heightened further when you check the list of countries that have access to the online platform and notice our neighboring countries Togo and Cote d’Ivoire have access to the platform.
There may be other economic, political, and security reasons for which the App is not present in Ghana. That notwithstanding, If one has partners overseas who want to use the App for transactions and notice the country is not on the app, the country may seem unattractive. Though there are other online platforms for such transactions, to the average European or American, PayPal is the most trusted and secure online transaction platform.
If you think the situation is not as bad as Amoaning Samuel makes it sound, take a look at these countries: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, NORTH KOREA, LIBYA, SOUTH SUDAN, SYRIA, IRAN, IRAQ, PAKISTAN…………GHANA !!!!…. Now, how do you feel as a Ghanaian knowing our country is part of this list? These are countries that have been saddled with war or some form of political, social, or economic instability.
Ironically, countries like YEMEN, ZIMBABWE, VIETNAM, VENEZUELA, UGANDA, SOMALIA, RWANDA, ERITREA, DR CONGO, UGANDA etc., which have also experienced some form of political, economic, and social instability of some sort have access to the online payment platform. It appears whichever way you look at it, Ghana is deficient in a way we cannot tell.
Even more fascinating on the list is NIGERIA***. Rumor has it that Ghana is not on the app because of the rampant fraudulent activities online. – clear throat.
Now the million dollar question: What is Ghana not doing right in order to be listed on the online platform?
There are some though who have the propensity to use the app, but it is not devoid of stressful and technically challenging procedures.
There have been some other persons who have also championed this agenda on some occasions, but it would add a lot of impetus and get the attention of policy makers now that a very influential digital personality like Amoaning Samuel has made it his personal agenda since the beginning of the year.
Hopefully, policy makers would hasten the processes in getting Ghana on the list of countries on the PayPal platform.
