I will create over 10,000 jobs in ICT sector – Mahama

President John Mahama has indicated that thousands of jobs are to be created in the coming weeks following government’s investments in the Information, Communications and Technology sector in the country.

Opening the 2nd African Mobile and ICT Expo (MOBEX 2016), the president said “one of government’s initiatives and infrastructural investment that would create opportunity for sustainable opportunity and entrepreneurial employment for 10,000 of our young people in the digital eco system is the development of the BPO center near the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange.

“It’s almost finished and we would be commissioning it very soon. The facility with the capacity of close to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs would be made available at affordable rates for start-ups and emerging ICT companies that are able and willing to carry out digital operations” the president added.

According to the president several other projects are underway to connect the entire country onto the internet and ensure that Ghana is competitive in the fast paced ICT global community.

He also indicated that plans are far advanced to create a conducive environment for the countries talented, creative and I.T conscious youth to take advantage to develop applications and softwares that can solve problems.

President Mahama said “the availability of broadband connectivity is expanding significantly. The opportunities this offers in creating new businesses are numerous. With massive development by software developers, relevant local content will drive demand and more business would soon begin to transform the ideas into value in the market.

“Others have already taken the lead. My good friend Herman Chienery Hesse has several applications spanning from ‘Hey julo’ for security and ‘akatua’ – a payroll software. We are working to provide more infrastructures for the younger generation to innovate.”

The three day event brings together all stakeholders in the ICT industry from various countries in Africa to exhibit and share ideas on how the continent can leverage on the numerous opportunities available in this field.

Telecom companies, ICT firms, Software and Hardware developers, Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) amongst others would be at the event to both sell and showcase what their services are.

The President said “the Ministry of communication is also developing a number of innovations including the M-Labs, I-hubs, Accra Business Processing Outsourcing Center (BPO), the Kumasi Business Incubator, The regional innovation centers and the ICT Park in Tema to boost the innovation digital system.”