Ursula Commissions ICT Centres For 3 Communities In Greater Accra

The Communications Minister and Member of Parliament for  Ablekuma West Constituency, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful over the weekend commissioned three community ICT Centres(CICs) in the Greater Accra Region.

The inauguration according to the Minister forms part of its digital transformation agenda to build the capacity of communities that lack access to ICT.

The centres, which were renovated and equipped with 45 computers, printers, projectors and Internet facilities at a cost of about GH¢211,500, are situated at Manhean and Kwashikuma in the Ga West municipality and the New Century Career Training Institute in the Ablekuma West municipality.

Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, in her speech said the government was committed to making ICT easily accessible to all communities in the country.

“These are existing centres that we have already built that are now being inaugurated. There are also old centres that needed to be renovated. There were only 28 functioning centres when we took office in 2017. Over 140 have been renovated and there are about 100 left to be made functional,” she said.

According to her, the country was moving into an era when one could decide whether to work online or offline.

“It has become imperative, in the wake of COVID-19, that we put up the digital infrastructure. This is why we are actively re-activating all these centres and working to provide the backbone infrastructure that will power all these systems,” Mrs Owusu Ekuful added.

ICT Importance

Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful re-affirmed the determination of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s determination that no Ghanaian would be left behind as Ghana leapfrogs the development ladder through digitisation and innovation.

She went on to speak of the benefits of the CIC in helping to promote businesses through online mediums whiles providing the opportunity and facility for residents of both communities to familiarise themselves with the computer, this she believed would contribute in bridging the digital gap.

The Minister pointed out that the use of ICT had become much more important particularly during this COVID-19 era where Social Distancing had become the new normal and it was safer for both children and adults to conduct their social, academic and work lives online. Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful was of the opinion that citizens in unserved and underserved areas deserved the same opportunity as those in the rural areas hence the need for facilities like the CICs where ICT could be brought to the doorsteps of people in those areas.

The Director of Operations at the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Mr Yahaya Zakaria Osman, on his part stressed on the need for people to be digitally equipped.

He, however, noted that the greatest barrier to digital inclusion was the lack of digital skills among people living in deprived communities.

“The United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development calls for 60 per cent of youths and adults to have a minimum proficiency in sustainable digital skills by 2025. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Communications, through GIFEC, has established CICs to serve as digital transformation centres within communities to build their digital capacities.

“GIFEC has, from 2017, trained over 1,100 teachers in basic ICT essentials, computer maintenance and hardware, as well as coding. These teachers have, in turn, trained about 134,000 pupils,” Mr Osman said.

Appreciation

The Queen Mother, Naa Sarkoa 1, expressed satisfaction for the CIC and assured the Minister that they will ensure that the center is used for the intened purpose. She however appealed to government to extend the construction of new school facilities to mahean community and the Ga West Community in general.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Ga West, Clement Wikinson was confident that the CICs will help promote businesses online.

Present at the commissioning were officials from the Ministry of Communications, Officials from GIFEC, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Hon. Clement Nii Lamptey Wikinson, the Queen Mother, Naa Sarkoa 1 and the Assembly Member for Manhean, Nicholas Tetteh.