Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Sam Nartey George says the One Million Coders programme is designed to equip people with practical skills they can use in everyday life and business.
Speaking at Joy News’ Digital Economy Forum on AI and the Ghana Economy on Wednesday, he urged the public to enrol in the programme’s courses.
His comments followed a question about scaling up training that helps ordinary people become more productive in their daily activities and businesses.
George said that practical focus was central to the programme’s purpose. He described it as giving people “real-world skill sets that are applied in real-world situations.”
He said about 37 programmes were currently running on the portal to help people acquire those skills.
“It’s extremely important,” he said.
His appeal emphasised how people apply their training. He explained that the programme aims to give participants skills useful in the situations they encounter.
The minister also raised concerns about data sovereignty when businesses use foreign technology platforms.
He questioned whether contractual assurances sufficiently protect data held by those providers.
“That is a mirage that is sold to many African companies, not just Ghanaian companies.”
George cited the U.S. Cloud Act as the basis for his concerns. He argued that it superseded private agreements promising data protection and sovereignty.
He said he had discussed those concerns with Google and Amazon Web Services.
The minister urged greater scrutiny of agreements with foreign providers, particularly where health records were involved.