By Sammy CRABBE
Ghana’s digital transformation will not be achieved by infrastructure alone—it requires an ambitious human capital development strategy.
The One Square Mile project provides the perfect testbed for equipping Ghanaians with the skills, work culture, and expertise needed to compete globally.
However, this transformation requires deliberate and innovative strategies to bridge the existing skills gap, build digital competencies, and create a world-class workforce capable of supporting multinational corporations and homegrown enterprises alike.
Workforce development: building the right talent
A digital economy thrives on its people. The right infrastructure means little without a workforce equipped to maximize its potential. Ghana must invest heavily in reskilling and upskilling its workforce to meet the demands of the digital economy.
While local training programs are crucial, they must be accompanied by cultural and attitudinal shifts in work ethics, efficiency, and service delivery.
As I learned from my experience building ACS-BPS, technical training is only part of the solution. When we first recruited workers from the public sector, we found that many brought outdated work habits that were incompatible with the high-performance culture required by our American clients.
We had to restructure, hiring fresh graduates and training them from scratch—developing not just their technical skills but also their ability to meet international standards of efficiency and accuracy.
Ghana must take a similar approach in developing the workforce needed to support the One Square Mile. This means:
- Establishing rigorous digital apprenticeships that allow new graduates to work alongside experienced professionals in high-demand fields.
- Partnering with private sector leaders to develop industry-aligned training programs in areas such as software engineering, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and fintech.
- Creating performance-based incentive structures that reward productivity and innovation.
The digital workforce must be trained not just for Ghana’s needs but for the world. Ghana can become a global hub for outsourced services, just as India and the Philippines have done, if we create a workforce that meets international standards.
The role of the diaspora – The ‘Kwesi Nyantakyi Model’ for talent acquisition
Developing the necessary workforce domestically will take time, but Ghana does not have to start from scratch. We can accelerate human capital development by attracting skilled professionals from the diaspora, particularly African Americans and second- or third-generation Ghanaians living abroad.
Kwesi Nyantakyi revolutionized Ghanaian football by scouting second-generation Ghanaians trained in European leagues who brought high-level skills, tactical understanding, and a professional work ethic to the national team. This approach propelled Ghana to its first-ever World Cup appearance. We can replicate this strategy in our digital economy by incentivizing highly skilled professionals from the diaspora to relocate and bring their global expertise home.
Many African Americans and Ghanaian professionals abroad are eager to return to a welcoming, stable environment, especially given the rising political and social tensions in Europe and the U.S. By offering tax incentives, competitive salaries, and a world-class work environment, Ghana can attract engineers, financial analysts, researchers, and IT specialists who will not only contribute their expertise but also mentor and train local talent.
Beyond the diaspora, Ghana’s stability, climate, and central location on the Greenwich Meridian make it an attractive option for global digital nomads and professionals from diverse backgrounds. If positioned well, the One Square Mile could become a regional headquarters for companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.
Rethinking education and vocational training
Ghana’s education system must be redesigned to produce graduates who are equipped for the demands of the digital economy. This means:
- Early STEM education: Integrating coding, data science, and AI into the standard curriculum from primary school.
- University-industry collaboration: Ensuring universities work closely with businesses to design courses that meet real-world needs.
- Vocational digital training: Expanding technical training programs that focus on software development, blockchain technology, and cybersecurity.
Education must move beyond theory into practical, hands-on experience. Industry leaders should be embedded in academic institutions, and students should engage in real-world projects with businesses before graduation.
Part 2b: Scaling the model and ensuring long-term success
With a well-trained workforce and global talent infusion, Ghana can scale its digital transformation beyond the One Square Mile. In Part 2b, we will explore how to expand this model nationwide, ensuring long-term success through policy continuity, investment attraction, and sustainable digital growth.
>>>the writer is a PhD candidate specializing in blockchains and decentralized finance at the University of Bradford. He holds an MBA in International Marketing from the International University of Monaco. Sammy was the first president of the Ghana Business Outsourcing Association and developed Africa’s first data entry operation and Ghana’s first medical transcription company. He can be reached via [email protected]
