The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has secured a deal with Huawei to provide free artificial intelligence (AI) training for girls under Ghana’s Girls in ICT Programme.
The agreement was reached during a meeting with Huawei’s Senior Vice President Steven Yi at the Mobile World Congress 2026 currently underway in Barcelona.
Speaking in an interview, the Minister said Huawei had expressed strong interest in Ghana’s growing technology ecosystem, including plans to establish a $250 million AI Compute Centre, expand rural telephony, and roll out 5G technology across the country.
According to him, the government used the opportunity to encourage the company to support Ghana’s digital skills agenda.
“Currently, the Girls in ICT Programme has modules on coding, animation using Scratch, and basic computing skills over the two-week period that the girls participate,” he said. “But with Huawei coming on board, we are going to have a crash programme in AI skills.”
The Minister explained that the AI training will help beneficiaries transition into other digital training initiatives such as the government’s One Million Coders Programme, allowing participants to deepen their technical expertise early.
For this year, he said Huawei has directed its Ghana office to collaborate with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications and the Ministry to roll out the AI training for about 3,000 girls participating in the Girls in ICT Programme.
Beyond the training initiative, Mr. George disclosed that discussions were also held with Huawei about establishing a handheld device assembly plant in Ghana to produce affordable smartphones for the local and West African markets.
The proposal aligns with an initiative by the GSMA and several partner manufacturers to introduce $40 smart handheld devices across Africa to improve digital access.
Mr. George said Ghana is positioning itself as a strong candidate to host such a facility, citing the country’s political stability, its status as a gateway to West Africa, and favourable business conditions for multinational companies.
He emphasised that any partnership must prioritise quality and affordability, noting that although Ghana currently has over 90 percent 4G coverage, actual usage remains below 60 percent largely because many people cannot afford smartphones.
He expressed optimism that local assembly of affordable devices could significantly increase smartphone ownership and expand access to 4G and 5G services across the country.
