Ghana’s technology ecosystem is already subject to significant regulatory oversight, and further controls risk undermining innovation if not carefully designed, a technology analyst has warned.

Barnabas Nii Laryea said debates around the proposedNational Information Technology Agency (NITA) bill highlight a broader tension between governance and innovation.

“Most of the strongest digital economies regulate risk, not creativity,” he said on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (27 May).

He pointed to sectors such as telecommunications, fintech, cybersecurity and data protection as already operating under multiple regulators, including the Bank of Ghana and other statutory bodies.

“A fintech entering the market may have to deal with four, five, six regulators… that increases cost and slows time to market,” he said.

Laryea warned that excessive regulatory overlap could lead to “regulatory fatigue,” where companies spend more time complying with rules than building products.

“The business will now focus on dealing with regulators rather than consumers,” he said.

He argued that innovation thrives in flexible environments, citing the evolution of mobile money in Ghana as an example of gradual, adaptive regulation.

According to him, early experimentation—before formal rules were fully established—allowed the sector to grow into one of the country’s most successful digital services.

“You don’t put the rules there that prevent it from working. You let it work, then build the rules around it,” he said.

Laryea welcomed clarifications from government that licensing requirements in the proposed bill would apply mainly to entities working with the state or critical information infrastructure, easing earlier concerns of blanket restrictions.

However, he stressed the need for greater transparency in the legislative process, arguing that earlier drafts should have been shared publicly to reduce confusion and resistance.

“People are stuck on one version while government is working on another,” he said.

He also advocated for streamlined regulatory systems, pointing to Rwanda’s “one-stop shop” model as a more efficient approach.

“If one regulator handles the process and coordinates others behind the scenes, businesses can scale faster,” he said.

While supporting the intent to bring “sanity” to the sector, Laryea cautioned that poorly calibrated rules could discourage startups and limit Ghana’s digital growth.

“Nobody is against regulation… the concern is not to regulate to the point where you stifle innovation,” he said.