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Prez Mahama opens 2nd Africa Mobile, ICT Expo in Accra

President John Dramani Mahama has drawn the attention of the youth to the limitless opportunities in the digital revolution that they could harness to build a better future for themselves and the nation.

 

Stressing that there was enormous potential for the youth to reach the top, the President said “Today, I rededicate myself to you, Ghana’s young men and women, and recommit once again that as President, I will always ensure that the right environment is created for you to grow and flourish.”

He was opening the 2nd Africa Mobile and ICT Expo in Accra yesterday.

The three-day expo is on the theme: “Digital economy, untapped resource for accelerated economic growth.” 

Priorities

President Mahama told the youth that in their attempt to travel the path to success, they needed to set the right priorities.

“Set the right priorities and put your energies into activities that provide best results and I can guarantee that there shall be no mountain too tall for you to climb,” he said.

Nonetheless, he said the journey would not be smooth sailing. “This is a long laborious journey, which demands personal sacrifices, character, consistency and courage.

“The big names we have today such as Google and Apple did not start as giants as they are. They all started as very little ideas nurtured in people’s garages and people’s bedrooms,” he told the youth.

Investments 

President Mahama spoke about the massive investments that the government continued to make in the telecommunications sector, and pointed out that they were positioning the country to meet the demands of the future.

He said for instance that the availability of broadband connectivity was expanding significantly and added that the government had invested in the first phase of the Tema ICT Park, with about 250 people already employed in the enclave.

Besides, under the Ghana-Mauritius joint venture project, a memorandum of understanding (MoU)  had been signed  which seeks to build a world-class technology city within the Tema ICT enclave.

The technology city would have facilities such as a learning hub, living area and working grounds with the capacity to house about 5,000 working people.

Describing the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic infrastructure,  which had already been inaugurated, as one of the best things to happen to the country’s digital strides, President Mahama said there were plans to extend the infrastructure from Ho to Tema.

In the short term, he said the Western Corridor fibre-optic infrastructure would be completed  with the network covering the offshore hydrocarbon enclave.

He added that as part of the forward march to usher the country into a digital era, a new national data centre would soon be inaugurated.

Cyber security

The President said as the nation continued to make strides in the digital journey, there was the need to check cyber fraud.

Consequently, he said the government was in the process of finalising an updated cyber security framework and policy after obtaining inputs from all stakeholders.

He also stated that a national response team had been established to monitor the cyber environment.

On course

The Chief Executive Officer of Costers Company Limited, the organisers of the expo, Mr George Spencer Quaye, said expectations from the event were huge.

He commended the government for the investments it was making in the ICT sector.

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