Ghana to block unregistered SIMs on May 31

Over 11 million mobile unregistered Ghanaian subscribers will be blocked by the end of May 2023.

According to National Communications Authority (NCA) Director-General Joe Anokye, Ghana has 11 million active but unregistered SIMs and those SIMs will be deactivated at the end of the month.

The 11 million unregistered SIMs include exempted subscribers like diplomats and refugees, as well as Ghanaians on official duties outside the West African country.

"All SIM cards which have not at least gone through the first phase of registration (linkage to the Ghana Card) will be removed from all networks by May 31, 2023," Anokye added.

Stage one of the SIM registration process was for citizens to link their national identity card – known locally as the 'Ghana Card' – to their SIM cards. Stage two requires citizens to scan their biometrics at a physical store or by using their cameras via the SIM registration app.

Ghana's SIM registration exercise began in October 2021 and the deadline has moved a few times. Furthermore, in August 2022, the country launched a self-service SIM registration app.

When the registration process began, there were 42.75 million active SIMs with various identification forms such as National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) cards, passports and driving licenses, but most of these were not verified when used to register SIMs, the Director-General explained.

The NCA said the 11 million unregistered SIMs include exempted subscribers like diplomats, refugees and Ghanaians on official duties outside the country. (Source: Pixabay)

"Out of the 36.57 million SIMs registered by April 25, 2023, 25.45 million SIMs had completed both Stage One and Stage Two of registration using their Ghana Card, therefore they are fully registered and stored in the central SIM database," Anokye said.

"SIM registration is a key national assignment fundamental to our digital transformation agenda. It is critical for the building of trust and confidence in the use of telecommunications, financial and other essential services," he continued.

The NCA refuted reports that the SIM registration database had been breached.

"We wish to assure the general public that the SIM database has not been breached. Ghana now has a SIM database that has integrity," he added.

Elsewhere, MTN Ghana has reconnected 1.9 million SIM cards disconnected because of the national SIM re-registration.

SIM cards were reconnected after users completed the second phase of the registration process, which is about biometric capture.

SIM registration trend

Many African countries have been introducing SIM registration processes, arguing that they are part of efforts to curb SIM fraud.

Recently, the Regulatory Authority for Communications of Mozambique (INCM) announced that it will impose new rules for registering SIM cards for the country's 15 million subscribers to telecommunications services over the next six months.

In January 2023, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) pushed back its SIM verification process a few times, while the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) officially kicked off the country's mandatory SIM card registration process.

Some African telcos have struggled to meet the short deadlines imposed by their governments. Nigeria has also been on a SIM registration drive since December 2020 and has had to extend its deadline several times for completion of the process.

*Top image source: Freepik

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa