Thirty young girls selected from schools from Accra and Kumasi are benefiting from a 6-weeks coding program under the V-STEM project, as a way of bridging the gap between male and female coders in the country.

The project, sponsored by Vivo Energy Ghana is being spearheaded by a partnership between the African Business Center for Developing Education (ABCDE) and the Soronko Academy.

Speaking at a brief ceremony to announce the project, the National Coordinator for ABCDE, Clifford Nii Afadi Tetteh, urged the girls to ensure that this project impacts their lives properly as it will open them up to great opportunities of work in the future.

He explained that the future of work requires for IT-inclined people and for girls especially, gaining such knowledge will give them an added advantage to compete.

"We noticed that most times, when things are free, people hardly find the value for it, hardly dedicate and make time for it but please, this is a project that is very important to all of us and when you think of it, you are learning to code - that is what the future is heading towards and the future is going to be greater. So make time and be dedicated to it," he appealed to them.

Shirley Tony Kum, Corporate Communications Manager for Vivo Energy Ghana, explained that the project has run since last year when it was launched, with an aim of helping the girl child catch up on sci-tech.

She added that as part of the steps to do that, it decided to partner with ABCDE who also have an agreement with Soronko Academy to advance the teaching of coding for these young girls.

"This year, we decided to partner with ABCDE who also have an agreement with Soronko Academy, partner them on a STEM program so they give these young ones the basics - a taste of it, to increase their interest in STEM. So they will do this coding program for six weeks after which they will be given an internship opportunity and who knows, they could build their careers from there," she said.

Delphina Agyare, Project Manager at Soronko Academy explained that they are excited about the project because it will help the Academy correct wrong stereotypes that people have about girls in coding or in general, girls in science and technology.

Fifteen of the girls are expected to receive their training in Kumasi, working in partnership with some IT Hubs in the city.