Automation of business registration underway

Ghana Community Network Service Limited (GCNet) is spearheading automation of the Registrar-General’s Department (RGD) to reform business registration processes, promote transparency, and enforce tax compliance in the country.

The project, valued at US$59 million, will fast-track online business registration, searches and filing of returns when automation is completed in April 2011. It will improve companies and businesses registration, civil marriage registration and estate and death gratuity administration.

The automation when completed will connect the Department to all the tax agencies, including Internal Revenue Service, Value Added Tax and the Customs Exercise and Preventive Service. This is under the government e-Registration programme (GeReg), which is in partnership with the World Bank Group and managed by the INFOTECH.

Under the programme, INFOTECH - the lead technology partner - will develop the GeReg system that is to support the new business processes at RGD as part of administrative reform to streamline operations.

Mrs. Jemima Mamaa Oware, Chief State Attorney at the RGD, spoke with B&FT after the signing ceremony between INFOTECH, GCNet and the Department in Accra - saying that the investment will bring significant improvement in revenue collection at all collection points connected to the system, thereby plugging most sources of revenue leakage and augmenting transparency of operations in the business registration process.

She explained that the time and cost of registering and doing business is set to drastically reduce from next year, following automation of the Department.

“This development represents a significant milestone in the project as it will provide the baseline to proceed to the next stage of the GeReg system development, which forms part of the administrative Reforms of the business process re-engineering project to streamline its business processes.”

Mrs. Oware added: “This is a major administrative reform to achieve its vision of becoming a highly progressive department able to effectively service its customers, which will increase revenue with more supported revenue-generation services.

“It will ease and improve confidence in Ghanaian businesses as companies’ information will be made readily available through the system.”

Patrick de Souza, Network Manager, GCNet, indicated that the automation would permit clients to do business with ease by the press of the button, and this would enable the company to effectively service its customers.

“Once the system is linked to the various revenue agencies, it will make it easier to check companies that default in their tax obligations," he said.

He indicated that the intervention of GCNet has enhanced business facilitation: through improvements in the processes for company registration, and the issuance of documentation through the deployment of an electronic platform for government ministries department and agencies.

He emphasised that the operations of GCNet has become a hallmark in the documentation management of the country’s business sector and is being hailed by other countries - who are adopting it - and added that GCNet will continue to invest in ICT infrastructure, hardware and software to ensure that its operating systems are stable, reliable and secure to meet its high operational standards and requirements.

“In spite of the current hardware capacity, GCNet is committed to a programme of new investments in ICT to ensure that it deploys systems at the cutting edge of technology and which meet international best practices.” Mr. Souza remarked.

Mr. Suresh Agarwal, Managing Director of INFOTECH, the lead technology partner, revealed that the project started in April 2010 and that INFOTECH and RGD have been working closely together for the past three months in defining the Business Requirement Specifications.

“The scope of the project includes Company and Business Registration, Marriage Registration, and Estate and Death Gratuity Administration.

“This conceptualised as a public private partnership to design, finance, build, operate and transfer an e-Government application for the revenue generating agencies and the Registrar General’s Department,” Mr. Agarwal said.