Access Bank Ghana has taken a significant step in fostering STEM education in Ghana, through its partnership with Amalitech for a Coding for Kids (C4K) Project.

The C4K project will provide coding education to 750 children aged between six and 16 years, in ten schools in the Western Region of Ghana.

It seeks to equip children in building basic applications which will enhance their creativity and innovation skills as well as their computational thinking and problem-solving skills.

Speaking on the partnership, Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Olumide Olatunji said the African continent has great talents and natural resources to help it compete globally therefore interventions targeted at developing the critical thinking abilities of children are welcoming and must be pursued.

“With a good foundation in STEM education, in the right political climate, we can position the youth through education to work in Africa and reduce the brain drain we are experiencing,’ he said.

He further explained that promoting STEM education aligns with Access Bank’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Access Bank believes that investing in STEM education is a crucial step towards the promotion of quality education. The C4K project thus aligns with the Bank’s commitment to quality education”, he said.

Director for Operations at Amalitech, Matthew Darkwa commended Access Bank Ghana for the partnership.

He said the project is the biggest among projects Amalitech is implementing in Ghana and promised an exciting era for the technology space in Ghana.

“If Ghana will grow digitally as a country, we must start with the children. C4K helps children to write codes such as HTML to give them a good understanding of the digital market at an early age.

“We are excited about this opportunity which will be impacting so many lives. This is the biggest child coding project we are undertaking in Ghana, and we are excited about the prospects,” Matthew noted.

The project's first phase has already commenced, focusing on the identification of the ten participating schools, recruitment, training of facilitators and a 3-day teen code boot camp on HTML & CSS programming for a section of the students.

Access Bank remains committed to growing a sustainable business brand that impacts the communities it operates in eighteen countries across the continents of Africa, Europe and Asia where it has a presence.

The Bank has over the years invested in community development with emphasis on education, health, environment, sports and enterprise, through its digital-first approach, the Bank has developed a deep understanding of customers’ needs, delivering excellent service and empowering them to achieve more through financial inclusion.