Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has called for increased and strategic investments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure as the country seeks to harness digital tools for national development and educational reform.
His comments came during a working visit by a delegation of Zimbabwean lawmakers who are on a fact-finding mission to study Ghana’s innovation ecosystem and educational policy framework.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, July 2, Mr. Iddrisu acknowledged that while progress has been made, the country must move beyond incremental improvements to make ICT a central pillar of its national development agenda.
“The government and the president have allocated an equivalent of almost $45 million for our national research fund. Our institutions are doing pretty well, and ICT is still not the best. We have to get more connected and deploy more fibre and broadband. Internet connectivity and its usage are not the best, but I can only agree with you that Africa still has a governance deficit and governance challenge,” he said.
The minister pointed to the gaps in internet infrastructure and limited access to reliable broadband as critical barriers to progress, noting that Ghana, and Africa more broadly, needs to address systemic challenges in governance and long-term planning to fully benefit from digital transformation.
Mr. Iddrisu also stressed on the role of innovation hubs and research funding in fostering a knowledge-based economy, especially one that can support job creation, entrepreneurship, and industrial competitiveness in a global digital market.
The visiting delegation, led by Zimbabwean politician and former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Thokozani Khupe, echoed similar concerns. She urged African governments to adopt policies that equip the next generation with the skills and platforms needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.
“We now want to produce job creators and not job seekers, so that when our students graduate from university, instead of them starting to look for a job, we want them to create jobs. So we are saying that if a student has an idea, the student must be given a space in the innovation hub so they can start working on their product, so that at the end of the day, they can produce a product that is ready for market,” she said.
The visit is part of ongoing efforts at regional collaboration focused on building robust, innovation-driven education systems in Africa. Both countries are exploring ways to scale up their technical and vocational training initiatives, support start-up ecosystems, and deepen public-private partnerships that can drive youth employment and economic diversification.
As Ghana positions itself as a hub for digital innovation in West Africa, officials say that strengthening ICT in education and governance is no longer optional, but essential.
