The Ministries of Communications and Digitalisation and the Information Ministry have extolled Huawei Ghana, a provider of information communication technology (ICT) products and services, for impacting hundreds of young girls across the country with first-hand and advanced skills in ICT.
Top officials of the two ministries at the climax of 2023’s edition of the ‘Seeds for the Future’ programme, the flagship educational support initiative of the global technology brand, expressed their profound gratitude on behalf of government for the excellent quality of empowerment being given to the programme’s beneficiaries.
Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng – who delivered the keynote speech on behalf of the sector-minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, expressed heartfelt gratitude to Huawei for their continuous investment in talent development in the country. She noted that ICT has become critical for solving socio-economic problems and addressing the skills gap, hence the need to equip youths with relevant skills in readiness for developing tailored solutions to the nation’s development challenges.
“The relevance of ICT in our day-to-day life and solving societal problems is non-negotiable. For instance, telemedicine is a critical sector to look at in developing solutions that can serve communities, particularly in rural areas. We must also equally pay attention to the agriculture and health sectors,” she said.
She also advocated increased investment from the private sector to propel ICT growth and development, while encouraging the education ministry to ensure ICT programmes are prioritised in schools to unearth more Ghanaian talents in the space.
Deputy Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakari, on her part congratulated the about-40 girls who benefitted from the initiative this year – urging them to strive at becoming good ambassadors of the brand and country by contributing to ICT development in their society.
She said what Huawei has done with the ‘Seeds for the Future’ programme is highly commendable, and government will as well continue making critical investments toward ensuring ICT learning becomes conducive for students seeking to take career paths in the technological space.
“The importance of studying ICT cannot be overemphasised, as we have seen how critical it can be if deployed to resolve real-time problems in education, healthcare and communications among others. And I want to give assurance that government is keen on making needed investments to improve the ICT learning space,” she noted.
She urged beneficiaries of the programme to make practical use of the lessons and guidance given them during their training.
Huawei closed the curtains on the competition’s 2023 edition with a renewed emphasis on young girls taking ICT-related programmes seriously to propel socio-economic development.
This year’s edition saw about 40 girls from tertiary institutions graduating out of 70 students shortlisted for the various ICT training courses. The participants were taken through an eight-day training and mentoring programme, as well as career development courses.
Deputy Managing Director of Huawei Ghana, Kweku Essuman Quansah, said the Seeds for the Future programme has over the past few years prioritised the training of ICT talents across the globe to address the widening industry skills gaps in the ICT industry.
“In the space of two years, we have trained 80,000 young girls in relevant ICT courses; and we are here once again to witness the closing ceremony of an initiative that underscores our commitment to fostering innovation, diversity and collaboration,” he shared.
Overall Best Student of this cohort, a Level 400 KNUST student, Grace Aliko, in her remarks indicated that she gained relevant knowledge and skills in cutting-edge courses like 5G networking, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing among others while also building her leadership capabilities.
Students who won various prizes were presented with cash, mobile phones, tablets and other items from Huawei Ghana.
