The Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has reached an agreement with Huawei Technologies to provide free artificial intelligence (AI) training for girls in Ghana under the government’s flagship ICT for Girls programme.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, and Steven Yi on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.
The initiative will expand the current Girls in ICT programme by introducing dedicated AI training modules for participants. Approximately 3,000 girls are expected to benefit from the training this year, which will be implemented in collaboration with the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications, Huawei’s Ghana office, and the ministry.
Beyond skills development, discussions at the meeting also focused on broader opportunities within Ghana’s digital ecosystem. Huawei expressed interest in several national technology initiatives, including the planned US$250 million AI Compute Centre, rural telephony expansion, and the rollout of 5G infrastructure in the country.
The talks also explored the possibility of establishing a handheld device assembly plant in Ghana to manufacture affordable smart devices for the local and regional markets. The proposal aligns with a wider initiative led by the GSMA and several original equipment manufacturers to introduce smartphones priced at around $40 across Africa.
The proposed facility could support efforts to improve smartphone affordability and increase adoption of advanced mobile services. While Ghana has achieved high 4G network coverage, smartphone affordability remains a barrier to wider usage of mobile broadband services.
If implemented, the device assembly project could help expand access to 4G and future 5G services while strengthening Ghana’s position as a regional technology hub in West Africa.
