Ghana to benefit from $1 billion technology hub to be built by the UAE In a development that is bound to revolutionize technology within the Ghanaian economy and contribute to improving relationship between the two countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has entered into an unprecedented partnership deal with Ghana to establish a state-of-the-art US$1 billion technology hub.
The ambitious collaboration, which was enshrined in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked in Accra on Wednesday, seeks to establish Ghana as the hub of digital innovation in Africa.
Spanning 25 square kilometers in Ningo-Prampram, construction of the Ghana-UAE Innovation and Technology Hub will be led by the UAE’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC). Ghana will make land available for this breakthrough project.
When complete, the hub is expected to draw in over 11,000 international companies, including the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, IBM and Alphabet, which have made the city and hub the regional base for their African operations.
The strategic theme for the hub is innovation in AI and emerging technologies. It is intended to facilitate business process outsourcing (BPO), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and building of Africa-specific machine learning data.
One of the main short term and medium term goals is to enable GIHUB to proprietor and produce hundreds of thousands of high value technology-dominated jobs for the expanding youth population in Ghana and to develop the capability of the country to export high-tech solutions as well as value added services.
Hon Samuel Nartey George, Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Ghana reiterates the importance of digital transformation to Ghana’s development agenda.
According to him, this collaboration fits into the vision of President John Dramani Mahama for a Ghana beyond aid, where innovation will be the mainstay of an inclusive economic growth as a sustainable one.
“It’s not only about creating infrastructure; it’s about giving a platform to Ghanaian talent,” the Minister stressed, adding that it complements Ghana’s ‘One Million Coders Programme’ which focuses on equipping young citizens with key digital skills in AI, cybersecurity and data governance.
While speaking at the Dubai Customs Consultative Council, H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World and Chairman of PCFC, pointed out that a global revolution toward innovation-driven economies is taking place.
He elaborated that the hub would give the citizens “the potential to “dream, to figure out what works, to bring ideas to life,” asserting that whirring automation and fast advancing technology has shifted existing jobs to more networking roles that are in the sphere of technology and logistics.
The ground-breaking partnership has been described as a game-changer in Ghana’s digital transformation drive, amidst high expectations from the people of Ghana that it will spur economic growth, build technological capacity, consolidate diplomatic relations between Ghana and the UAE among others.
The project will boost Ghana’s position in the African outsourcing market – which is set to hit $35 billion by 2028 – and create a pool of trained personnel to serve the emerging business process outsourcing industry. Although the initiative is in the early stages, the pledges by both countries demonstrate a clear intention to put Ghana on the map as a player in global tech.