Eighty young women graduated from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation’s Tech4Girls programme on September 29 in Accra, a moment Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang used to call for more equal access to digital opportunities for girls across Ghana. The event also marked the 10th anniversary of HACSA’s work in training young women in digital skills.
The Vice President said digital skills were vital as technology transforms education, jobs, and business sectors. She described programmes like Tech4Girls as important for equipping women and girls with skills in software coding, artificial intelligence, digital literacy, web development, and cybersecurity. The training also includes support to help participants move into internships.
“A 10-year anniversary is an occasion to highlight what has been accomplished and to reflect on what may yet be achieved,” Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said during the ceremony.
She explained that HACSA’s efforts fit into broader government plans to expand digital skills among young Ghanaians. The government is partnering with the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to include foundational digital skills training in education.
The Vice President also pointed to the Girls in ICT programme, which introduces girls to coding, animation, and computing. A new partnership with Huawei will extend artificial intelligence training to 3,000 girls under this programme. Those participants will have a pathway into the government’s One Million Coders initiative.
“Girls must have an equal place in this world,” she said.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang added that the One Million Coders programme is working with tertiary institutions to increase training opportunities. She announced that 50,000 places have been reserved for persons with disabilities. The government intends to make digital skills training more inclusive through this initiative, which targets coding, cybersecurity, data analytics, and related areas.
The Vice President urged the Tech4Girls graduates to use their digital skills beyond the tech sector. She encouraged them to apply those skills in agriculture, health, education, and governance, to solve practical problems in their communities and across Ghana.
She also encouraged continued learning and development of products that meet people’s needs. “Girls must have an equal place in this world,” she repeated. She said the graduates should see themselves as active participants in Ghana’s ongoing transformation and remain adaptable as technology changes.
The Tech4Girls programme has run five cohorts so far, with this latest group of 80 young women completing the course. The programme aims to prepare participants for further education, employment, and entrepreneurship by giving them practical digital skills.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang’s speech underlined the government’s push to close gaps in digital access and training for women and people with disabilities. The partnership with Huawei and reserved training spots for disabled persons are parts of this effort.
The graduation ceremony and anniversary celebrations reflected a decade of work by HACSA to train young women in digital skills and open paths into Ghana’s expanding digital economy.
According to Joy Online.
