Accra: The government has set a target to train 400,000 Ghanaians this year under the flagship One Million Coders Programme to boost digital literacy, employment, and innovation. This follows the successful pilot of the programme last year, during which 859 beneficiaries received training.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Samuel Nartey George, Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, disclosed this during a working visit by Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang to the Ministry. He mentioned that 20,000 custom-built laptops had already been procured, with plans to roll out training in 100 constituencies by the end of the first quarter of 2026. The Minister emphasized that the goal is not only to train a million people but also to ensure that they can secure employment or remote jobs with internationally recognized certifications.
The One Million Coders Programme, a key initiative under President John Dramani Mahama's RESET agenda, aims to train one million Ghanaians over four years in coding and ICT skills to prepare them for employment, remote work, and participation in the digital economy. The Minister highlighted ongoing partnerships with global technology firms, including Google, MTN, Huawei, and Telecel, to provide internationally recognized certification and improve the employability of beneficiaries. He noted that, given financial constraints, they reached out to Big Tech for support, which has been well received.
Mr. George also outlined reforms and projects underway within the Ministry and its agencies, including a comprehensive review of the legislative framework, noting that many existing ICT laws were outdated and no longer fit for purpose. He said 15 new and amended bills, covering electronic communications, cybersecurity, data protection, and digital economy development, were at various stages and would soon be presented to the Cabinet following stakeholder consultations.
To curb waste in government ICT procurement, the Minister stated that the Ministry was collaborating with the Public Procurement Authority and the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) to prevent duplication of systems across ministries and agencies, safeguard sensitive national data, and ensure value for money. He mentioned that the Public Procurement Authority had been advised not to grant approval for any government IT-related procurement without reference to NITA, to leverage existing systems and protect critical national data.
Mr. George added that the Ministry was advancing Ghana's artificial intelligence strategy in collaboration with the KNUST Responsible AI Lab and local industry partners, with the national AI strategy expected to be launched by the end of the first quarter.
On institutional reforms, he reported that the Ministry had adopted a fully paperless internal system, enabling documents to be processed digitally from receipt to approval. Other achievements include improvements at Ghana Post, which delivered more than 100,000 biometric passports in under six months last year; the rollout of a fully digital system for inter-ministerial correspondence; and efforts to transition the .gh domain to state ownership to strengthen national digital identity.