The Administrator (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC),  Prince Ofosu Sefah, has reiterated that 200 more ICT laboratoriess will be established this year, as part of its Cyber-lab programme.

He said this when he inspected selected Cyber laboratories, Community ICT Centres (CICs) and Rural Telephony Sites in the Western Region.

The Administrator, together with a Technical Support Team, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Amenfi Central – P.H. Amponteng and Lord Nana Tandoh – Municipal Chief Executive of Amenfi West Municipality, visited newly-constructed Community ICT Centres (CICs), new Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Cell Sites as well as existing Cyberlab at Manso Amenfi and Amuni.

He indicated that the equipment will soon be deployed to the new CICs for their operationalisation, and reiterated the need to establish Municipal/District multi-stakeholder Management Committees to manage and maintain the ICT centres, to continue to benefit the people of the community.

He also mentioned that some of the CICs will facilitate the training of over 10,000 citizens this year, as part of GIFEC’s ICT Capacity Building and Skills Development Programme.

“We will use these centres to train citizens in various sectors of the economy to upscale their knowledge on information Communication Technology because that is the way to go in our current environment. Digital skills are needed in all spheres of life and our citizens cannot be left out whatever level of education they have attained.”

GIFEC is of a strong view that these centres will facilitate the training programmes for our people” he said.

He admonished the communities to develop a solid maintenance culture, supported by a similarly improving culture at GIFEC, to ensure the people continue to benefit from these resources for a longer time.

Mr. Sefah also inspected Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project Sites at Amuni and Nkakaa, both in the Amenfi Central District.

The project is being implemented by GIFEC on behalf of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, under the leadership of Ursula Owusu-Ekuful.

This is part of government’s unprecedented $200 million Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project, which started in 2020 and slated to be completed in 2023.

Mr. Sefah also paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Amuni, Nana Twumasi Ampaw, who communicated his utmost appreciation to GIFEC for its intervention and encouraged more engagements for enhanced relationship between the community and GIFEC.

There, Mr. Sefah responded to reports of unstable electricity in the area with a promise to get back with a possible solar-powered solution.

He also promised to explore the possibility of adding another site in the area, to improve the quality of the network.