400 Artisanal Females to Benefit From ICT Training

By Daniel Dzirasah

Goaso — About 400 artisanal women and girls drawn from some selected rural communities in the country are to be trained in basic Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance and promote their businesses.

The project being spearheaded by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), aimed at leveraging on the power of ICT to create smart communities where people would have easy access to healthcare, education, water and food security.

To this end, GIFEC has being piloting the programme in four communities in Ghana namely Goaso, Asummura, Berekum and Asankragwa.

Speaking at the launch of the project at Goaso in the Ahafo Region yesterday, Mr Abraham Kofi Asante, the administrator of GIFEC said the impact of the smart community project was essential to equip beneficiary communities with requisite digital skills which according to him, would be a strong pillar in the achievement of a digital economy.

GIFEC, he noted, was providing digital skills training, tailored for both the formal and informal sectors, including artisans.

He added that the fund would also provide ICT equipment and internet connectivity to schools and community ICT centres to improve access to ICT services in marginalised communities in order to equip the needed infrastructure and skills to take advantage of existing opportunities to the ICT sector.

The objective, he observed, was to develop their problem solving skills by teaching them to explore the world of technology through the creation of website, computer games, and interactive acts, among others.

The Secretary General of the Ghana National Commission for UNESCO, Mrs Ama Nerquaye Tetteh in a speech read for her said the project funded by UNESCO, was a bold step in ensuring access to information, and how ICT would improve the livelihoods of women and girls.

The choice of Goaso, a bustling town in the Ahafo Region, she stated showed a lot of foresight in bringing access to the people where it was most needed.

The Kontihene of Goaso Traditional Council, Nana Nhyirah Kwadwo Kuma, thanked the organisers of the programme for considering the area which, he said would benefit the people.

He appealed to the participants to take the training seriously in order to better their lot.

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