Ghana’s push to build a tech-ready workforce has taken a concrete step forward, with thousands of laptops now in circulation to power the rollout of the One Million Coders Programme (OMCP).
At a brief ceremony in Accra, the government handed over roughly 8,500 devices to kick-start the first phase of the initiative, a nationwide effort designed to sharpen digital skills among young people and improve their chances in an increasingly competitive global tech space.
The rollout will see equipment distributed to 130 learning centres nationwide, alongside selected universities. These hubs are expected to anchor training in coding, artificial intelligence and other in-demand digital fields.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, indicated that lessons from the pilot stage shaped the current expansion. According to him, the focus is not simply on enrolling large numbers but on delivering outcomes that can be tracked and measured.
He broke down the allocation, noting that each of the 130 centres will receive 50 laptops, accounting for about 6,500 devices dedicated to community-based training. A further 2,000 laptops have come through private sector backing for universities, with plans to increase the stock through additional government support.
The minister pointed out that the devices have been configured specifically for the programme, enabling structured instruction in coding and emerging technologies.
He revisited the pilot phase, which began nearly a year ago with a modest target of 500 participants across four centres. Interest quickly exceeded expectations, with about 94,000 applications submitted within 48 hours. In the end, nearly 1,000 individuals completed the training, offering data and insights that informed the nationwide rollout.
To widen access, the programme’s learning centres have been spread across all 16 regions, with Greater Accra hosting the largest share. There are also plans to extend the network to every constituency in later phases.
“We are collaborating with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to include persons with disabilities, allocating 50,000 slots through the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations (GFD), while ensuring that others outside the federation can also apply through the main portal,” he added.
Implementation is being driven in partnership with key state-backed institutions, including the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications, Ghana Digital Centres Limited and the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT. The programme is also being integrated into higher education, with 12 universities set to benefit from the first phase, supported by upgrades to their digital infrastructure.
The private sector has also played a role, with MTN Ghana singled out for its financial contribution towards procuring the laptops. The minister stressed that such collaborations remain essential for sustaining the initiative.
Beyond training, the programme is structured to link participants directly to job opportunities. Mr George revealed that agreements have already been secured with industry players to absorb graduates into remote and outsourcing roles.
“We’ve signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with an agency called II Africa that has agreed to take 100,000 of our graduates and place them in remote jobs and work.
“Yesterday, I met with the Business Outsourcing Services Association Ghana (BOSAG), and they are also looking to take out another 100,000,” the Communication Minister said.
Each learning centre will also be staffed by a newly recruited technical officer, creating 130 jobs for young professionals at this initial stage.
Mr George maintained that the programme will be closely monitored, with systems in place to track who participates, who completes the training and how many transition into employment. The aim, he said, is to ensure the initiative produces tangible results in building Ghana’s next generation of ICT professionals.
“This whole programme is not just about ticking a political box and saying we’ve done this; it’s about scaling, re-scaling and upscaling the next generation of Ghana’s ICT professionals,” he said.
