THE Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has called for practical job opportunities for graduates of the One Million Coders Programme to ensure that the digital skills they acquire translate into employment, business opportunities and innovation.
She said the success of the programme would depend on the ability of young people to use their skills to secure jobs, establish businesses and develop digital products and services.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang made the call when she officially opened the 15th Africa Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) in Accra on Tuesday.
She said thousands of young Ghanaians had completed courses under the programme, while partnerships with universities were helping to extend digital skills training to established educational institutions.
She stressed that training alone was not enough, adding that the government must ensure that young people had opportunities to apply their knowledge in the changing digital economy.
The Vice-President also called for greater attention to small businesses, farmers, traders and informal sector workers to enable them to benefit from digital technologies.
She said closing the digital divide in underserved communities required more than expanding network coverage. It also involved making internet services affordable and accessible, while equipping people with the skills to use digital platforms.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang said the government had begun building public sector capacity under the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy launched by President Mahama.
She said measures were also being introduced to strengthen oversight of technologies used by the government to ensure their responsible application.
“Our ambition is not simply to adopt new technologies, but to develop the expertise and safeguards needed to use them responsibly,” she said.
The Vice-President said the safety, privacy and right to learn of children and young people must remain central to digital policies.
The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr Samuel Nartey George, said Africa must develop its own digital future instead of depending on technologies designed to serve other interests.
He said global powers were shaping digital rules, standards and algorithms, warning that Africa could not afford to remain on the sidelines.
“We must, and we cannot, import our digital future ready-made. We must design our future ourselves,” he said.
Mr George said Africa needed affordable internet services and devices, digital systems to support trade among African countries, and national language models to protect indigenous languages.
He also called for stronger cooperation among countries to fight cybercrime, protect data, ensure child online safety and promote fair earnings for African content creators.
He said Ghana, as Chair of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Communications and ICT for 2026 to 2028, would present the outcomes of the forum to the African Union.
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG & ENOCK KWAME OFORI
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