{"id":120160,"date":"2026-05-26T05:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120160"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:33:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:33:00","slug":"a-web-developer-could-become-a-criminal-nita-bill-sparks-fear-among-young-innovators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=120160","title":{"rendered":"A web developer could become a criminal \u2013 NITA Bill sparks fear among young innovators"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A proposed draft bill seeking to expand the powers of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) is triggering growing fears within Ghana\u2019s technology ecosystem, with concerns that young developers and startup founders could face criminal penalties for building digital products without government licences.<\/p>\n

The proposed NITA Draft Bill seeks to transform the agency into an independent regulator with sweeping oversight powers across Ghana\u2019s digital economy.<\/p>\n

Among its key proposals are mandatory licensing for ICT businesses, government certification for ICT professionals, regulation of emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain, and a proposed one per cent levy on ICT services.<\/p>\n

But speaking on Joy News\u2019 PM Express on Monday, technology analyst and consultant Barnabas Nii Laryea warned that the bill could create dangerous barriers for innovation and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Responding to a question about why a young self-taught developer should be worried, he said the bill\u2019s broad wording creates uncertainty across the entire tech sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you should be worried, because regulation can go as far as lowering the barriers to innovation rather than creating the kind of enabling environment that you want to see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pointed specifically to provisions requiring all ICT businesses to obtain licences before operating.<\/p>\n

According to him, the bill states that \u201ca person shall not engage in a business or related activity in the ICT sector, unless that person has been granted a license.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that the definitions within the draft law are too broad and leave critical questions unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes a web developer need a license? Does a website developer need a license? Does a student who is just building simple SaaS products, even in KNUST today, need a license? Does a startup founder need a license before they launch?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Mr Laryea warned that the lack of clarity creates fear and uncertainty for young innovators trying to build businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we cannot build, or we cannot make new laws and keep the laws in ambiguity, even at the point of passage,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He also criticised the speed with which government is pursuing multiple ICT-related bills at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about 15 bills that the ministry is pushing. For any public policy standpoint, it\u2019s overly ambitious,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

According to him, the rush has created suspicion within the tech community.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor everybody that\u2019s in the space, everybody that has played in this space for a long time, the first thing you are thinking about is what are they hiding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Laryea further warned that the bill could effectively criminalise innovation if passed in its current form.<\/p>\n

He referenced provisions imposing penalties for operating without a licence, including fines and possible imprisonment.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagine a 22-year-old Ghanaian launches a scheduling app. Three months later, NITA decides that this app falls under a category that requires licensing. The founder could technically become non-compliant,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not how modern innovation ecosystems are built,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A proposed draft bill seeking to expand the powers of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) is triggering growing fears within Ghana\u2019s technology ecosystem.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18247,1883,10,9,2139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-draft-nita-bill","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}