Samuel Nartey George, Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, said the country’s digital economy must be built by young innovators who can develop technology solutions, not just use them. He made the remarks at the graduation ceremony of the first cohort of the Digital Skills Project, organised by Plan International Ghana with support from Nokia in Accra.
Twenty‑six participants – 14 females and 12 males – completed a 12‑week intensive training programme and a month‑long capstone project that applied digital skills to real‑life community challenges. Mr George praised the graduates for turning from learners into builders, noting each had produced a working project that addressed a tangible problem.
He highlighted the One Million Coders Programme, a government initiative that aims to equip one million Ghanaians with practical digital skills. As of August 2026, the programme had enrolled 141,954 learners nationwide, with the highest demand in cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence. The minister announced that 12 universities had signed memoranda of understanding to integrate One Million Coders courses into their Level 100 curricula this academic year.
Mr George stressed that digital skills programmes should be judged by graduates’ ability to secure employment, start businesses and solve societal problems, rather than by enrolment numbers alone. He also urged gender inclusion, encouraging the 14 female graduates to pursue careers in software engineering, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data science and technology entrepreneurship.
"You have a place in Ghana’s digital future. It is not a small place at the back; it is a seat at the front where decisions are going to be made," he said to the graduates.
Moving forward, the minister urged the new builders to leverage the One Million Coders Programme to deepen their skills and broaden their career prospects, ensuring that Ghana’s emerging digital workforce can meaningfully contribute to national development.
