Vice President of the Republic and presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has stated that the digital youth hub currently under construction at the University of Ghana campus will be completed and unveiled in December 2024.
A collaboration between the University of Ghana (UG), the Ministries of Finance (MoF), and Communications and Digitalisation ( MoCD) has culminated in the establishment of a Digital Youth Hub (DYH) at the University of Ghana (UG), which is the first of such technology hubs being established under the Ghana CARES programme across the country.
The Digital Youth Hub will serve as an innovative space for young Ghanaian technology entrepreneurs to interact, collaborate, start up, and build sustainable technology-based businesses with direct support from the stakeholders whose collaborative efforts helped to establish the hub.
Speaking after inspecting ongoing construction works of the Digital Youth Hub at the University of Ghana on Tuesday, 8 October 2024, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia noted that the University of Ghana project would be replicated in Cape Coast, Kumari, and in Tamale for the benefit of the youthful population across the country.
The digital youth center, according to the vice president, will be a massive boost for technology entrepreneurs and position the country as an African regional skills hub. The center will have an auditorium with seating capacity of two thousand, two hundred (2,200), soon to be the largest on the University of Ghana campus.
“The digital youth hub is part of a greater agenda for Ghana to build a digital space to accelerate digitalisation because all the empirical evidence shows a direct positive correlation between digitalisation and economic growth. The countries that can take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution are the countries that are going to create economic growth. So, we need to make sure that the youth within our country have the skills to participate in this 4th Industrial Revolution.
“If you don’t have digital skills, you are going to be left behind, and I think that this initiative to create digital youth hubs is good so you can grow your entrepreneurs and attract investors. This is part of a greater agenda for Ghana to build a digital space to accelerate digitalisation because all the empirical evidence shows a direct positive correlation between digitalization and economic growth,” Dr Mahamudu Bawumia remarked.
“The Digital Youth Hub is part of a broader strategy for Ghana in terms of building the digital space. What you are seeing here today is phenomenal. This is just months of work, and from what the contractor tells us, we will have Phase 1 commissioned in December.
“The countries that can take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution are the countries that are going to create economic growth. So we need to make sure that the youth within our country have the skills to participate in this 4th Industrial Revolution’” the Vice President further remarked.
Minister for Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, presenting an overview of the Ghana CARES programme during the visit of the Vice President, said that as part of the many initiatives under the programme, the Digital Youth Hub would help train one million digital entrepreneurs who will be able to use their skills for profitable ventures. Finance Minister Adam further noted that a 5 million dollar endowment fund will be established to support the management and running of the Digital Youth Hub when it is completed.
“Everything that is required to make it a complete village for the provision of skills for the youth of Ghana as his excellency, the Vice President, said he has promised to train one million youth in digital skills, so this is the platform and the infrastructure that will help in the training of these youth,” Mohammed Amin Adam said.
Minister for Communication and Digitalisation and member of Parliament for Ablekuma South constituency, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful pointed out that her ministry is committed to ensuring that the digital youth hub is completed within schedule.
The project according to Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, commenced in November 2022, with actual construction beginning in January 2024. “Significant milestones have been achieved since its inception, and the project today stands at 55%, with phase 1 expected to be completed in early December 2024,” Mrs Owusu Ekuful said.
A five-acre land was allocated for the project by UG with the option of an additional 5 acres to facilitate the construction of hostel facilities. Architects for the project (Messrs arc-AURA) and contractors (Messrs Mustek Engineering Limited) assured the Vice President and his team that Phase I will be completed in early December 2024.
