The yet-to-be constructed US$25 million MTN Ghana’s information and communications technology (ICT) Hub would accelerate the country’s digital transformation agenda, Communications and Digitalisation Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said.
“It’ll be the venue for Ghana’s creative minds and innovators to explore and nurture ideas to address economic problems, provide technical support for start-ups, deepen digital literacy, especially among our young girls, broaden participation of women in ICT, encourage research and development and most importantly ensure Ghanaians embrace the full use of ICT,” she said.
She spoke at a ceremony to cut sod for the commencement of work on the telecommunications giant’s largest-ever ICT project in its over 25-year history in the country and said the government believes in innovation and that digital entrepreneurship provides huge opportunities for job creation and economic growth.
Currently, there are over 600 tech hubs forming the backbone of Africa’s tech ecosystem, largely supported by mobile operators and internet providers, due to their close involvement in the digital space.
“Like the tech Hubs in the United States of America, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, Singapore, China, Dubai, Nigeria, and others, government remains committed to creating an enabling environment that supports innovation, entrepreneurship, inclusion and digital transformation for development,” she added.
She was optimistic that the MTN project, when completed, will complement the Ghana Digital Centres Limited’s (GDCL) focus on a nationwide network of digital transformation centres and interventions to nurture tech related ideas and start-ups.
As a way of addressing the country’s yawning digital divide, the GDCL, a state-of-the-art mini-tech hub, was established to harness the country’s digital potential by driving digital innovations and entrepreneurship to create jobs for the youth through the hosting of tech firms and digital start-ups.
The firm, over the years, has attracted a mix of technology ventures of various sizes and stages, including start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. It has also built the capacity of over 5000 youth in different digital training programmes.
And Since the GDCL was operationalized in 2017, a total of 7,515 jobs have been created for the youth and vulnerable persons from low-income communities.
The Ghana ICT Hub
The Ghana ICT Hub is a physical infrastructure designed to provide 4,000 square metres of space with ancillary facilities and unique features. The whole project is scheduled to be completed in approximately 18 months from when construction begins.
When completed, the Ghana ICT Hub is expected to train over 200,000 youth in ICT and digital skills and generate more than 100,000 jobs within the first three years.
The hub will be an ultra-modern office facility, providing office spaces and meeting venues for more than 100 tech companies which will incubate new ideas and innovations, driving the start-up buzz in the hub after completion. It will also create an ICT ecosystem in the health, agriculture and education sectors.
