Government to spend between 10 to 25 million dollars on e-school project

Accra, Aug. 30, GNA – Government is expected to spend between 10 to 25 million dollars within the next five years, under the e-school project to procure laptops and desktop computers for schools, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communications said on Tuesday.

He expressed the hope that the project, which was a co-operation between the sector and Ministry of Education, would help demystify the use of computers by Ghanaian children in schools.

Mr Iddrisu made the disclosure when a five-member delegation from Samsung Ghana Limited paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.

He made a “special request” to the delegation to establish a Samsung assembling plant to enable the corporate entity to take advantage of government’s e-project earmarked for 2016.

Mr Iddrisu said: “Those establishments that would be able to set up plants to assemble phones, laptops and desk top computers would enjoy incentives and other support budget line for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the purpose of procuring laptops and desk top computers.”

He called on the delegation to take advantage of some business opportunities that existed in the ICT sector stressing that government was seeking partners to help the country migrate from the analogue radio and television to digital.

Mr Iddrisu said: “This will give the country some spectrum dividend and also some advantage of improvement in sound and picture quality”.

He said other areas of investment included building a secondary data centre in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region to serve the business enclave in the region.

Mr Iddrisu said as part of government’s effort to address growing unemployment challenges in the country and to provide Information Technology related jobs; it was seeking to partner a business entity to establish two ICT parks slated for Tema and Cape Coast.

He called on the delegation to explore business opportunities that existed in rural communities so they could provide solutions to help bridge the digital divide.

Mr Iddrisu said Ghana had an enabling environment for both legal and regulatory provisions to facilitate the safety and security of businesses.

He expressed the hope that Samsung Ghana Limited would provide appreciable corporate social responsibility to address the needs of Ghanaians.

Mr Brovo Kim, Managing Director of Samsung Ghana, expressed commitment to support government to establish the ICT parks and help develop the communication sector in general.

He said management had rolled out a programme to identify and harness the talents of young Ghanaian consumers and entrepreneurs for development.

Mr Kim announced management’s intention of establishing Samsung offices in the country.