The government has invested roughly €155 million through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation to augment universal service funding in order to improve broadband connections in rural regions and close the digital divide.
This is part of an endeavor to bridge the connection gap in the communications network.
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the sector minister, made the announcement yesterday in Rwanda during the 2022 WTDC roundtable discussion.
According to her, 2,016 project cell sites are being established across Ghana by 2023, with the goal of connecting three million Ghanaians.
She also stated that after the current phase of the Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project is finished, a comparable sum would be committed for the second phase.
Ghana, according to the Minister, has committed to an open spectrum policy that would allow any technology to be used to connect more than 6,000 towns across the country.
Three million Ghanaians will be linked by 2023 as part of the scheme, which also includes the construction of shared infrastructure for rural connection.
"Regardless of their service provider, we have legislated and are implementing a nationwide roaming policy allowing any user to access broadband and emergency call services in our rural, unserved, and underserved locations," she added.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful also reaffirmed Ghana's commitment to improving digital skills in order to enable individuals to develop and use digital solutions to address social and economic issues.
She described how the government has set aside $2.6 million to build two innovation centers by 2024, with the goal of educating at least 3,000 individuals.
The Minister highlighted that the Girls in ICT initiative, which was initially aimed at 1,000 female students from selected primary schools, has been expanded to 5,000 girls in five districts. At the tertiary level, it is envisaged that an equal number of young women would be trained.
She said that Ghana has a deal with the SMART Africa Alliance to teach up to 22,000 people by 2023 "via the Smart Africa digital Academy."
Ghana's Universal Access and Service Fund Administration, according to the Minister, operates over 220 Community ICT Centres (CICs) in rural areas via a program.
Ghana is working with the ITU and NORAD to teach more than 14,000 people by 2023 through its CIC network.
A total of 220 CICs have been established to teach 105,600 people yearly, with the government hoping to extend the space by collaborating with partners and investors to reach at least 200,000 people by 2024.