GRA unveils Govtech Innovation Challenge to boost revenue

By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has unveiled the novel Govtech Innovation Challenge, a programme intended to develop innovative digital solutions to enhance effective tax administration in the e-commerce and informal sectors of the economy.

Designed to connect government partners with innovative technology companies to address critical public sector challenges, this inaugural initiative is led by the Word Bank in collaboration with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and Trust Valley.

Addressing officials from the GRA, and delegations from World Bank, SECO and Trust Valley, Commissioner General of GRA, Mr Anthony Akwasi Sarpong said the Challenge aims to mobilize 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 mobilization in Ghana by creating simple, smart tax solutions for the GRA, adding, “this initiative is expected to help us to achieve our expected target of mobilization GH¢360 billion revenue by the year 2028”.

“This Innovation Challenge offers the GRA a great opportunity to improve revenue mobilization 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,” Mr Sarpong noted.

A Senior Public Sector Specialist & Task Team Leader at the World Bank, Shiho Nagaki, said the initiative aims to bring tech companies into the country for this Challenge, stressing that Ghana remains a priority country for the World Bank and SECO, in matters of revenue mobilization and development.

Madam Nagaki explained that participants in the Challenge will have the opportunity to co-design and pilot a digital solution to fix a real-world government issues, access to executive-level training in Switzerland, be awarded with a prize and recognition, global exposure through the World Bank’s platform and access to Trust Valley ecosystem.

Potential participants and timelines

Announcing the criteria and timelines for the Challenge, CEO of Trust Valley, Lennig Pedron explained that participating enterprises must be early-stage startups, scale-ups, and SMEs that are legally incorporated and have fewer than 75 staff, and generate less than US$5 million in annual revenue.

According to him, application deadline for registration and participation in the Challenge, is on September 19, 2025.

He said pitch sessions are scheduled for September 22-26, 2025, with selected proposal announcement slated for October 3, 2025.

“Participants will then be taken through Bootcamp in Switzerland from November 11-14 and be hosted on December 2, 2025, in a Govtech Conference and a final presentation in Geneva, alongside a Trust Valley day event,” Pedron indicated.

The 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.

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