Samuel Nartey George, Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, has reaffirmed that the One Million Coders Programme is completely free for Ghanaians, with the state fully absorbing all associated costs.
The ambitious national initiative was officially launched on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Accra and across various satellite locations.
It aims to equip one million Ghanaians with essential coding and digital skills, ultimately driving innovation, job creation, and economic transformation by shifting the population from being digitally native to becoming AI native.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Mr. George clarified that no individual will be required to make any financial contribution to access the programme.
However, participants, he said, must commit to a minimum of 30 hours of training to be certified.
The minister further noted that while the financial cost of the initiative exists, the government is exploring sustainable funding through partnerships with private institutions.
He said, “Yes, there is a cost to it, your time and commitment as a citizen. Your time, your commitment, because look, this is not just any programme. We have strict monitoring and evaluation and KPI for certification. And so if you do not commit to it, if you come to class today and miss class tomorrow, you will not be certified, you will not graduate from the programme. That much, let me make clear, that we will ensure that unless you meet the requisite number of 30 hours, we will not even allow you to take the exam.”
“That’s critical, because we will not compromise on quality. Financial cost, yes, there is, but not to the citizen, the state is absorbing that cost. We are looking at ways and means of handling that for the Ghanaian people. We’re also looking at partnerships with organizations like the Mastercard Foundation to pay for some of these trainings. We’re talking to our partners. For example, yesterday, immediately after the meeting, I received about 14 different proposals, including a proposal from Huawei, who are very eager to quickly come on and say, look, we will train this number of students.”
Mr. George noted that several organizations have already expressed interest in collaborating with the government, including the Mastercard Foundation, which has offered to fund training for specific groups.
Huawei, on the other hand, is also eager to train a certain number of students.
The MTN Group South Africa has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government, and Telecel Group has stepped up to support the initiative. Additionally, Google is providing internet connectivity through C-squared.
“Yesterday, I got a call from Mastercard and MESTI saying that, look, the Melbourne Institute, we want to train, we have the funding, we will train for you if you let us know who you want us to train and how you want us to train them. So, like I said, the desire, already the MTN agreement, MOU I signed in Barcelona, not with MTN Ghana, but with MTN Group South Africa, the CEO of MTN South Africa flew all the way to meet with me just to sign an MoU, because they believe that this is a game changer for the African continent. Telecel Group have also stepped up. Google, through C-squared, is providing us internet connectivity. So, there’s a lot that’s happening.”
The government is open to partnerships with corporate entities, particularly those in the tech sector, to leverage funding and expertise.
The minister has extended an invitation to banks, businesses, and tech companies to partner with the government and fund the training of students, enabling them to benefit from the human capital being developed.
He added, “We are looking at making sure that this doesn’t come solely from the public purse, but that we’re going to attract as much and leverage as much goodwill as the Mahama administration has to get funding from international partners and local partners as well. But the window is open for corporate society. I’m using your platform to (15:16) reach out to banks, businesses that are in the tech sector who would need this critical skill to come and partner with us and say, we will pay for the training of, say, 10,000, 20,000 of the students, so that they can also benefit from the human capital that we’re putting out.”
