Mustapha Hamid
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, through the Ministry for Inner Cities & Zongo Development, is expected to build the capacities of about 2,200 Zongo residents from across the country.
The move is part of government’s strong commitment towards the holistic development of Zongo Communities.
According to Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who made this known to the media on Sunday in Accra, the Inner City Ministry will on Monday, December 3, 2018 sign two separate Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) aimed at helping boost the capacities of residents of inner cities and Zongo communities.
The first empowerment programme for the Zongo communities, he disclosed, is the Zongo Coders Programme, which is to be executed in partnership with a non-profit organisation called Initiative for Youth Development.
He explained that the Zongo Coders Programme is aimed at training up to 1,000 Zongo youth in computer coding and application development and facilitating their operations in the development of computer-based software and applications to tackle contemporary challenges, as well as take advantage of economic opportunities in their localities.
The project, the minister said, will commence with an initial 200 beneficiaries and will be scaled up to 1,000 in the subsequent months.
He observed that “it is expected that the project will aid in creating self employment and incomes for beneficiaries.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah added that “the apps and technology services to be produced from the project are also expected to increase convenience and productivity for citizens in general. It will span a 24 month period.”
Second Programme
The second empowerment initiative for the Zongo communities, according to the minister, is the Zongo Cuisines Development programme.
He explained that the “it (programme) is a collaboration with the NBSSI aimed at providing technical and financial support to already existent small scale business operators such as food vendors in the aforementioned areas.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said the programme is aimed at assisting them access larger markets for their products by enhancing their already existing marketing, preservation and packaging, as well as book keeping abilities.
Target
From the start, the programme will target 600 beneficiaries in 2019 and another 600 in 2020.
The minister concluded that “in consonance with the administration’s pledge to develop the capacities of residents in Zongo communities. It is our belief that these and other interventions in the selected areas will improve the productivity levels and further reduce the hardships of our people.”
BY Melvin Tarlue