The agreement was reached during a meeting between Ghana’s communications minister, Samuel Nartey George, and Huawei senior vice president Steven Yi on the sidelines of the annual global technology gathering, where major firms unveiled new products and AI-driven solutions.
Under the arrangement, Huawei will provide free AI training to girls participating in Ghana’s Girls in ICT Programme, a government initiative designed to increase female participation in the technology sector.
Nartey George said the partnership would introduce an accelerated AI training module that will strengthen the programme’s curriculum and prepare participants for more advanced digital skills training.
“With Huawei coming on board, we are going to have a crash programme in AI skills,” the minister said.
He added that participants who complete the training would transition into the government’s One Million Coders Programme for further development, describing the move as a strategy to build talent early in the country’s growing digital economy.
The Girls in ICT initiative has trained nearly 18,000 girls and close to 1,800 teachers since it was launched in 2012. Its two-week residential training model currently includes modules in coding, animation, web development, cybersecurity, and basic computing. The addition of artificial intelligence training represents one of the programme’s most significant curriculum expansions to date.
Ghana explores smartphone assembly and AI infrastructure investment
The discussions also highlighted broader technology investment opportunities in Ghana, including the government’s planned $250 million AI Compute Centre, the rollout of 5G infrastructure, and the expansion of rural telephony.
According to the minister, Huawei showed strong interest in participating in these initiatives, though he stressed that Ghana expects meaningful social investment from partners seeking access to its expanding technology market.
Beyond training programmes, the talks explored the possibility of establishing a smartphone assembly plant in Ghana to manufacture affordable handheld devices for the domestic and West African markets.
Nartey George said Ghana’s political stability, strategic location, and investor-friendly environment strengthen its case as a manufacturing hub. He added that improving smartphone affordability remains critical to expanding internet access across the country.
Although Ghana’s 4G network coverage now reaches more than 90 percent of the population, actual usage remains below 60 percent. Many citizens still rely on feature phones that cannot access high-speed mobile networks, highlighting a key barrier to digital inclusion that the government hopes to address through local device manufacturing and expanded training programmes.
