Ghana’s technology community is mourning the passing of Dr. Augustina Odame, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Technology (GCT) and a board member of the National Communications Authority (NCA) — a woman who spent years at the intersection of policy, innovation, and economic development across Africa.

Her death was confirmed on LinkedIn by a work colleague. She passed away on 28th February, 2026.

About Dr. Odame

Dr. Odame was among a small cohort of women leading technology policy institutions in West Africa. Her work helped define Ghana’s national digital transformation agenda and built critical bridges between government and the private sector.

What She Stood For

1. An economist and fintech expert: Dr. Odame held broad expertise in financial technology, payment systems, and business regulatory compliance across Africa.
2. Champion of Ghana’s digital economy: As CEO of the GCT — a voluntary association of technology companies — she spearheaded partnerships to create an enabling environment for tech firms to reach their global potential.
3. Infrastructure advocate: She consistently argued that policy alone was insufficient; Ghana needed investment in foundational digital infrastructure, from broadband to open government data.
4. Public-private partnership realist: She was candid about the difficulty of such partnerships, saying publicly: “We’ve seen a lot of private-public sector partnerships go south, but we need it. It’s a key way that we are going to finance some of this huge capital infrastructure necessary for development.“
5. NCA Board Member: Most recently, she served on the newly inaugurated National Communications Authority board.

Dr. Odame was a vocal presence at major technology forums across the continent. At the 2024 Africa Tech Summit, she argued that entrepreneurs were being forced to spend precious funding on data and infrastructure that governments should be providing.

She called for the release of government-held data to help startups build better, cheaper products — and pushed for a more efficient allocation of public resources to close the infrastructure gap.

Under her leadership, the GCT signed a landmark MOU with Germany’s GIZ in 2021 to advance Ghana’s digital transformation through capacity building, knowledge exchange, and compliance training.

She also led a delegation to President-elect John Dramani Mahama following the 2024 election, pledging the chamber’s collaboration with the incoming administration to leverage technology for Ghana’s economic and social development. (Tech Labari)