Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has called for strategic investment in information and communication technology as the country positions itself for growth in the digital age.
He made the call during a visit by a delegation of Zimbabwean Members of Parliament, who were exploring Ghana’s innovation ecosystem and educational development models.
The visit by the delegation forms part of ongoing regional cooperation efforts to promote innovation-led education and youth entrepreneurship across Africa.
Mr Iddrisu disclosed that the government has allocated $45 million for a national research fund, but more needs to be done to establish innovation hubs and expand digital infrastructure.
“The government and the president have allocated an equivalent of almost $45 million for our national research fund. Our institutions are doing pretty well, and ICT is still not the best. We have to get more connected and deploy more fibre and broadband. Internet connectivity and its usage are not the best, but I can only agree with you that Africa still has a governance deficit and governance challenge,” he said.
On his part, Dr Thokozani Khupe, leader of the Zimbabwean delegation, admonished African governments to invest significantly in empowering the youth through information technology and entrepreneurship.
“We now want to produce job creators and not job seekers, so that when our students graduate from university, instead of them starting to look for a job, we want them to create jobs. So we are saying that if a student has an idea, the student must be given a space in the innovation hub so they can start working on their product so that at the end of the day, they can produce a product that is ready for market,” she added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
