Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) recently unveilled its novel Govtech Innovation Challenge, a programme intended to develop innovative digital solutions that enhance effective tax administration in the e-commerce and informal sectors of the economy.
Led by the Word Bank in collaboration with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Trust Valley,the initiative is designed to connect government partners with innovative technology companies in addressing critical public sector challenges.
“This Innovation Challenge offers GRA a great opportunity to improve revenue mobilisation with efficiency, specifically focusing on the informal economy. Already, numerous startups from the digital community have approached the Authority to participate in this novel programme,” said Commissioner General-GRA Mr. Anthony Kwasi Sarpong.
The Challenge aims at mobilising startups and SMEs to develop practical solutions that enhance efficiency, transparency and citizen services through digital transformation.
The 2025 Challenge, he said, focuses on improving tax resource mobilisation in Ghana by creating simple, smart tax solutions for the GRA, adding: “This initiative is expected to help us achieve our expected target of mobilising GH¢360billion revenue by the year 2028”.
Senior Public Sector Specialist & Task Team Leader-World Bank, Shiho Nagaki, said the initiative aims to bring tech companies into the country for this Challenge.
Announcing the criteria and timelines for the Challenge, CEO-Trust Valley Lennig Pedron explained that participating enterprises must be early-stage startups, scale-ups and SMEs that are legally incorporated, have fewer than 75 staff and generate less than US$5million in annual revenue.
Trust Valley is a competence centre for digital trust and cybersecurity in Geneva, Switzerland. It is an alliance of public authorities, academic institutions and economic players working to promote the region’s expertise, foster innovation and connect regional stakeholders in the field of digital confidence and cybersecurity.
GRA faces challenges in usually meeting revenue targets due to issues with its tax administration system, a large informal sector and inconsistent tax enforcemen – all of which can allow tax evasion to thrive.
Therefore, ‘Challenge’ focuses on improving tax resource mobilisation by creating simple, smart tax solutions for GRA.
