Ministry of Communications, MTN Ghana celebrate National Girls in ICT Day

The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, in collaboration with MTN Ghana, celebrated the National Girls in ICT Day in grand style, honouring a thousand beneficiaries of the Girls-in-ICT training in the Greater Accra Region.

The event, held at the University of Ghana’s Cedi Conference Centre, brought together leading female professionals in the ICT field to share their experiences and inspire the girls to pursue careers in Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, highlighted the government’s efforts to create a sustainable financial model with enhanced training content to benefit more girls throughout the year, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5.

In a significant move, the ministry launched the Ghana Girls in ICT Trust, to serve as a continuous pipeline of trained and empowered girls and women, fostering an enabling national environment for young women in ICT and STEM.

Addressing journalists, the minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful explained the importance of the Trust in addressing funding challenges associated with the programme. She noted that the Trust will facilitate public-private sector partnerships, bringing more partners on board to sustain the programme.

“Funding has always been a challenge, but with the Trust in place, we can now engage potential donors. Several have shown interest but were previously hesitant due to it being a purely governmental initiative.

“The Trust, as a public-private partnership, will welcome donor agencies, individuals, and companies as Trustees. This inclusion will allow them to incorporate funding for the Trust into their annual budgets, ensuring a sustainable stream of funding for the project,” said Hon. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.

Greater Accra Regional Minister, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, reiterated the government’s commitment to equipping young girls with essential ICT skills to excel in an increasingly technological world.

On the sidelines of the launch, Adwoa Wiafe, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN disclosed that MTN Ghana plans to engage with the Ministry to explore further support for the initiative.

“We understand that the Ministry is transitioning this into a Trust, and we will discuss with the Ministry to understand their plans and determine our future involvement,” said Adwoa Wiafe.

This year’s National Girls in ICT Day included a five-day ICT training for both students and teachers. The climax of the training program saw the best 100 students receiving a brand new laptop and a laptop bag. The best three students received a plaque and cash.

MTN Ghana, a partner of the Ministry since 2021, has invested GH¢15.6 million in the programme, contributing to the training of 9,000 girls and 900 teachers in basic ICT skills such as coding, website design, game development, and animation.

Regions covered so far include North-East, Western-North, Ahafo, Bono-East, Bono, Savannah, Northern, Eastern, and Greater Accra.