Initiative overview
Following a 2025 pilot across four cities, Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani, and Tamale, which attracted approximately 94,000 applications within 48 hours and ultimately trained 859 participants (52% female), lessons from the pilot informed the design of the national rollout to ensure the programme delivers practical digital skills and meaningful employment pathways. The national rollout began on 10 April 2026 with the distribution of laptops to institutions and training centres, with each of the 130 learning centres across all 16 regions equipped with 50 customised laptops configured specifically for coding and digital training. A total of 130 constituency-level coordinators have been recruited to oversee training centres and provide technical support, with plans to expand coverage to all constituencies nationwide. Registration is linked to the Ghana Card through a simplified verification system, and the application portal was announced to reopen to allow both previous and new applicants to complete registration.
Key implementing partners include the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Ghana Digital Centres Limited, and the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, where the programme was originally launched. Twelve universities are participating in the initial phase, including the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the University of Cape Coast. Private sector support includes MTN Ghana, which contributed approximately US$2 million towards laptop procurement, alongside partners such as Google, Telecel, and the Data Protection Commission.
Courses span a wide range of disciplines, including AI essentials, coding, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, software development, digital marketing, and UI/UX design, offered at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, both online and in person. The programme is inclusive by design, targeting a 50/50 gender split, and is positioned as a central pillar of Ghana's digital transformation agenda, building a skilled workforce for emerging opportunities in software development, artificial intelligence, and remote digital employment. President Mahama stated that the government aims to train 300,000 Ghanaians under the programme in 2026 alone, describing it as "a national commitment and a social contract."
