The government has presented about 8,500 laptops to support the national rollout of the One Million Coders Programme (OMCP).
The programme is the government’s flagship initiative to equip young people with digital skills to enhance employability and position the country competitively in the global digital economy.
The presentation, which marks the beginning of Phase one of the programme, will see the deployment of laptops to 130 learning centres across the country, as well as selected universities, to facilitate training in coding, artificial intelligence and other digital skills.
Speaking at the presentation held in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, said the government had carefully assessed the pilot phase of the programme before scaling up to the nationwide rollout, emphasising that the initiative was not merely about training large numbers but ensuring measurable impact.
Distribution
Mr George explained that each of the 130 centres would receive 50 laptops, bringing the total allocation to approximately 6,500 devices for community-based training.
In addition, about 2,000 laptops were secured through private sector support for distribution to universities, with further government supplies expected to augment the allocation.
Mr George disclosed that the laptops had been customised to meet the specific needs of the programme and would support structured learning in coding and emerging technologies.
He recalled that the pilot phase, launched nearly a year ago, initially targeted 500 beneficiaries across four centres, but received overwhelming interest, attracting about 94,000 applications within 48 hours.
Ultimately, close to 1,000 participants were trained, providing critical insights for the full rollout.
To ensure nationwide access, the Communication Minister said the 130 learning centres were in all 16 regions, with the Greater Accra Region hosting the highest number.
Mr George added that the government aimed to expand the centres to cover all constituencies in subsequent phases.
“We are collaborating with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to include persons with disabilities, allocating 50,000 slots through the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), while ensuring that others outside the federation can also apply through the main portal,” he added.
Partnerships
Mr George underscored the role of key implementing agencies, including the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications, the Ghana Digital Centres Limited and the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, in delivering the programme.
He stressed the importance of collaborating with academia, indicating that the first phase would be rolled out across 12 universities, with infrastructure support to enhance digital training on campuses.
The minister commended the private sector, particularly MTN Ghana, for its financial contribution towards the acquisition of laptops, emphasising that such partnerships were critical to the success of the programme.
Beyond training, Mr George said the initiative was designed to create employment pathways, revealing that agreements had been reached with industry players to absorb graduates into remote and outsourcing jobs.
“We’ve signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an agency called II Africa that has agreed to take 100,000 of our graduates and place them in remote jobs and work.
“Yesterday, I met with the Business Outsourcing Services Association Ghana (BOSAG), and they are also looking to take out another 100,000,” the Communication Minister said.
He added that each learning centre would be managed by a newly recruited technical officer, creating employment for 130 young Ghanaians in the first phase.
Mr George emphasised that the programme would go beyond training numbers, with systems in place to track participants’ demographics, completion rates and employment outcomes, ensuring measurable impact and accountability in building a skilled digital workforce for Ghana.
“This whole programme is not just about ticking a political box and saying we’ve done this; it’s about scaling, re-scaling and upscaling the next generation of Ghana’s ICT professionals,” he said.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
