Video: Northern Ghana business owners receive computer training

Small-scale businesses are drivers for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. When these businesses succeed, so does the greater economy. IICD, a non-profit foundation that specializes in information and communication technologies as a tool for development, supports farmers, local entrepreneurs and youth in Africa to improve their business performance and income. Hundreds of Ghanaians in the Northern Region are receiving computer training from IICD to help them reach even more customers. Nearly all have seen great success.
Examples from the video succinctly show the benefits of ICT training. Agatha, a traditional weaver in Northern Ghana, has been trained by IICD to use computers. Her business skills are strong and she buys materials for her weaving online. She makes designs on the computer as well. Her costs have decreased and income has increased. Michael, a carpenter, has also benefited from the ICT training. He now uses computers to communicate with customers and look for jobs. Production has increased rapidly. Now, imagine the net economic result when hundreds of entrepreneurs utilize ICT to earn a living. What empowerment!

Nasa engineer's mission to inspire Ghanaian students

VIDEO: Click here to watch the Video

Space travel might be a bit difficult for many young Africans today, but what opportunities are there to hook them into applying science and technology to fix the continent's problems?
That is the mission Nasa robotics engineer Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu has set himself, hoping that more students across his native country will pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Akwasi Sarpong reports

Entrepreneurs from Ghana build bespoke shoe brand one heel at a time

HTW Shoe Story from VickieRemoe

Like most young Africans his age 28-year-old Fred Deegbe still lives at home with his parents in Tesano a suburb in Ghana’s capital of Accra. His bedroom is adjacent to the garage that Deegbe C.E.O  of HTW short for Heel The World has converted into a production factory where he and his two managers supervise a half-dozen shoemakers to design what they are calling bespoke shoes.

Spotlight on Africa - Mobile Statistics & Facts 2012

Praekelt Foundation believes that mobile technology is reshaping the future of the African continent, and that we have a chance to guide that change, using this powerful new tool to improve the lives of people living in poverty and empowering them to take charge of their own wellbeing. We've created this video to spread the word, and we hope it helps us recruit more advocates for the power of mobile technology. The future starts here!

Robots compete in their own 'Olympics' games

London may be host to the Olympics and paralympics but Bristol is the place to be if you are a sporty robot.

26 teams from around the world are currently competing in the FIRA RoboWorld Cup. More from http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/science/201208/92670.php

e-Waste Challenges? Solutions? See Video from Ghana:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/poisoning-the-poor-electroni

The ever-growing demand for the latest fashionable mobile phone, flat screen TV or super-fast computer creates ever larger amounts of obsolete electronics that are often laden with toxic chemicals like lead, mercury and brominated flame retardants. Rather than being safely recycled, much of this e-waste gets dumped in developing countries.

E-Waste Hell

How are the west's 'recycled' TVs and computers ending up in a toxic dump in Ghana? Dateline investigates the trade in e-waste which is poisoning a once picturesque part of Africa. For more on Giovana Vitola's story, go to the SBS Dateline website... http://bit.ly/oxkPWT

Ghana to launch two vaccines at once

On 26 April 2012, Ghana plans to launch two new vaccines at once. One will protect children against pneumonia and the other against severe infant diarrhoea -- the two biggest killers of Ghanaian children.

Building capacity for competitive agricultural systems and enterprises in West Africa

This film (45 minutes) presents four examples of Agri-Business Clusters in Ghana and Togo. They illustrate the experience of entrepeneurial individuals in building small to medium scale businesses through new relationships with colleagues and so-called Agri-Business Cluster and Value Chain partners.


United through markets - Africa by moovon

The businesses, either producer cooperatives or agriculturally-linked enterprises, were supported by a project entitled ‘From thousands to millions: accelerating sustainable economic growth in West Africa’ (The 1000s+ project), coordinated by the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC). The project utilised a grassroots approach known as "Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises” (CASE) and focused on agribusiness clusters consisting of the farmers, entrepreneurs, technical, financial and business development services that are involved in a particular commodity within a well-defined target region. To date, the CASE approach has been piloted in several West African countries, to the benefit of some 60,000 farmers, including many women.

Kentaro Toyama's keynote at the 'ICT for a greener economy' conference

St. Basilide Vocational School Kaleo

The St Basilide Vocational School in Kaleo, Upper West Ghana is using ICT since 2011.
They have received 20 computers from GIFEC, but no full time ICT teacher. A JICA
volunteer (from Japan) who barely speaks English teaches the students in basic ICT,
but she does not have time to teach the teachers as well. Peps-C will support the school
to integrate ICT in their classrooms both in the main subjects (Carpentry & Joinery,
Plumbing&Welding, Electrical Installation and Building& Construction, but also in
general subject under the Ghana Education Service. The school has 454 students,
with only 24 girls. The computer is used also in administration, but not networked
and without internet access. In the next yearteachers and administrators should be
able to improve their skills into teaching&learning and school administration.

St Claire vocational school - Tumu Ghana

St Claire Vocational school is one of four vocational schools in the Upper West region of Ghana that will be supported by Peps-c (with support from IICD and Edukans) to build the capacity of teachers and school administrators to integrate ICT in the classroom.

The principal also mentioned how this could be integrated in the administration. The accountant shows that she already is doing the finances on her own laptop, but she still writes it manually in the books, because the auditors require this.

St John Vocational School - Nandum Ghana

St John Vocational school is one of four vocational schools in the Upper West region of Ghana that will be supported by Peps-c (with support from IICD and Edukans) to build the capacity of teachers and school administrators to integrate ICT in the classroom

It is a traditional boys school with subjects like Carpentry, Auto mechanics, Construction (with plumbing, block making, etc). 10% of the students are girls.

St Anne's Vocational school

St Anne Vocational school is one of four vocational schools in the Upper West region of Ghana that will be supported by Peps-c (with support from IICD and Edukans) to build the capacity of teachers and school administrators to integrate ICT in the classroom.


St Anne is a vocational school for girls. they teach subjects as
Fashion and Design, traditional weaving and Catering.

Integrating Computers at Basic and Junior high school to improve teaching in Northern Ghana

The Connect for Change (C4C) programme was set up in Ghana to help organisations, specifically education and health based to integrate ICT into their operations. The partners in the C4C Consortium are IICD, Edukans, Cordaid, , ICCO, AKVO and Text to Change. This video is part of the project implementation process and it is to showcase the current situation on the ground at the selected beneficially schools under the auspices of the local partner (Savana Signatures - www.savsign.org)


Over 2000 students of three basic and junior high schools in Savelugu and
Tamale District, Ghana will get better access to educational information with
this project by using computers. Computers will be placed in the schools and
teachers are trained to use it in their courses. Students become better
educated and therefore have more chances to go to senior high school.
Teachers benefit as well because by using computers it will take them less
time to prepare classes notes, assignment etc. and will be better equiped to teach. To support this project!

C4C Initiative: Improving teaching and Learning with ICT in Nkwanta District

This Video showcase the current situation at the various Schools as part of the C4C Education Programme in Ghana. The objective is to improve teaching
and learning in the Nkwanta District (volta Region, Ghana) through ICT in three Basic & Junior High Schools, by Wadep a local NGO with support from Connect4Change (IICD, Edukans)

The Women and Development Project WADEP) is located in the northern part
of the Volta Region since 1995. This initiative came as a result of the abject poverty
which was analyzed as multidimensional, gendered, dynamic, complex and specific
as a result of the location of the district. Women bear the brunt of this as result of culture.
They work longer hours and days and had limited access to income earning
opportunities yet are responsible for meeting the needs of the household.
GINKS and IICD Prodcution 2012

Integration of ICT in Saboba Medical centre Ghana : Connect4Change Programme

This video showcase pilot hospital project under the C4C programme in Ghana to enable CHAG to digitilize and integrate ICT into the manual patient record keeping system. The video shows the situation on the ground and why this project will bring an added value to CHAG and Ghana as a whole.


Some Challenges of Saboba Medical Centre includes:
• Lack of space for archive
• Many patient records get lost
• Many patients forget cards, new record made without medical history
• Many manual entries at every department (Lab, Pharmacy, Theatre, Ward, Consulting, NHIS)
• Only 1 doctor, 70 – 90 beds
• Data entry once, filling reports to others automatically without additional actions

The Connect4Change programme from IICD and Cordaid will support CHAG and Saboba Medical
Centre in implementing a hospital management information system that will improve the medical
care of Saboba Medical Centre.

Bimbilla Community Information Centre at glance

An interaction with CIC manager of Bimbilla. Talks about lessons learned on
the ground with the management of the CIC in remote parts of Ghana,
Successes, Challenges and Opportunities.

GINKS & IICD prodcution 2012

Yendi Community Information Centre at glance

An interaction with CIC manager of Yendi. Talks about lessons learned on
the ground with the management of the CIC in remote parts of Ghana,
Successes, Challenges and Opportunities. GINKS & IICD prodcution 2012

The “Mobile Web” as text and voice

THE MOBILE WEB from Duniamedia on Vimeo.
The mobile web revolution has already spread around the world.
The phase of it that we live in is where we see the internet hitting
critical mass based on the availability of web connectivity on mobile devices.
Data is widely available, and the costs continue to decrease at an alarming rate.
We’re seeing the disruption this is causing already, from businesses to consumers,
and within the political structures of entire countries.