The Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has urged African leaders to masterfully accede the gender digital divide and engineer solutions.

The Minister said, “Let us also recognize the continuing existence of a yawning digital divide particularly, the gender digital divide, with many women still shut out of this digital revolution. We must ensure that technological advances do not further exacerbate inequalities that marginalize women, persons with disability, rural communities and the elderly.”

She said this at the opening ceremony of the International telecommunications Union Regional Development Forum (ITU RDF) held in Ghana under the theme: “ICT4SDGs: Towards the implementation of WTDC-17 outcomes”.

The forum which aims at providing an Invaluable opportunity for ITU members across our region to share achievements and experiences whilst building digital economies to foster innovation in Africa was attended by ITU Member States, ITU-D Sector Members, Regulators, Associates, Academia, Stakeholders of the Centers of Excellence network for Africa and Regional organizations in Africa.

Madam Ursula Owusu remarked the need to equip the African Youth with IT knowledge thereby positioning them for opportunities.

“We need to build and integrate a resilient broadband infrastructure across the continent, provide the requisite IT knowledge and skills to our people, especially the youth and position them to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the multibillion applications and software industry,” she said.

However she was optimistic that with the current IT development ongoing in Ghana and its focus on rural penetration, existing gaps in ICT access can be bridged by 2020.