The government has extended the deadline for the SIM Card re-registration to July 31, 2022, citing a number of Ghanaians without Ghana Card, Ghanaians living abroad, and registration of diplomats and reasons

The extension is to enable every eligible SIM card to be captured and produced a credible database at the end of the exercise.

The SIM registration exercise, which began on 1st October 2021, was expected to end on 31st March 2022.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation and sighted by The Ghanaian Standard in Accra on Tuesday said as of 17th March, more than 14 million (14,091,542) SIM Cards had been linked to the Ghana Card, more than 10.3 million (10,348,532) Bio-Captures conducted, and 99,445 New SIMS registered.

“Due to a number of factors, including the fact that over 7.5 million citizens and residents are yet to obtain Ghana Cards to enable them to register their SIM cards, it is clear that the deadline for completion of the registration of the remaining active SIM cards cannot be met,” the statement said.

More time will also be required to update the SIM Registration App for the registration of diplomats, while a Self-Service SIM Registration App is also being developed to facilitate registration of SIM cards for Ghanaians resident abroad. This will be operational by mid-April.

These issues make it imperative for the deadline to be extended to ensure that every eligible SIM card is captured, and we produce a credible database by the end of the exercise.

The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation has, therefore, extended the deadline for the registration of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards to 31st July 2022.

“We commend all Ghanaians and foreign residents in Ghana for their support in ensuring that through this exercise, we develop and build a credible SIM database with integrity, which will help address issues of cyber fraud and promote secure SIM Card based transactions as part of our efforts to digitally transform the economy,” the statement said.