Ursula Owusu-Ekuful at the event
ABOUT 3.5 million Ghanaians are expected to be connected to the internet by 2023.
Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, who disclosed this, was delivering an address to climax the National Girls in ICT programme, on the Techiman Campus of the Valley View University in the Bono East Region.
“The quest of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to develop community ICT centres and cell sites across the country will ensure that most Ghanaians will have access to mobile networks. Without mobile connectivity. By the end of next year, this group of people will heave a sigh of relief,” she explained adding that the establishment of more than two thousand centres and sites were in progress and on track to make this a reality.
“We have made it our focus to construct ICT centres and rural telephony sites across the country to aid in the teaching and learning of ICT courses for our girls and the youth in general. This will provide an opportunity for girls and young women in the country to gain knowledge and exposure to technology. As previously mentioned, the theme for this year is ‘Access and Safety’. T
The minister said to address such issue in Ghana, “the ministry, through GIFEC, is implementing its Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, which forecasts the construction of more than two thousand sites for connectivity nationwide. Since 2020, over seven hundred sites have already been built and many communities have been connected. By the end of next year, all sites would have been completed.”
Since the beginning of the girls in ICT programme in 2012, this is the first time that five regions are celebrating the programme separately within a year. A development the minister describes as exceptional.
One hundred girls from all the eleven districts in the Bono East Region, received laptop rewards while others received cash awards and some incentives for their schools including coding clubs, fully furnished ICT laboratories among others. She urged the Regional Coordinating Council to take ownership of the facilities and ensure their proper maintenance. Some best performing teachers and regional officers also received laptop rewards for their efforts.
Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Eric Mensah Bonsu, re-emphasised the importance of technology in the economy and urged the beneficiaries to be empowered by their training.
Deputy Minister for Education in charge of TVET, Gifty Twum Ampofo, encouraged the participants to study hard and take advantage of some government initiatives like the Free Senior High School Initiative.
The programme is expected to begin in a few days.
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