Guide young engineers, ICT professionals – GRIDCo boss urges

Young engineers and ICT professionals will need continues guidance and mentoring from the experienced professionals in order to instill confidence in them, Mr Jonathan Amoako-Baah, Chief Executive of Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRDCo) has said.

He said this while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2019 AFRICON hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing engineering and technology for the benefit of humanity on Wednesday, 25 September 2019 at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

The Ghana section of IEEE is hosting this year’s 3-day conference on the theme: Powering Africa’s Sustainable Energy for All Agenda: The Role of ICT and Engineering.

He said: “There is the need to continuously guide the career growth of young engineering and ICT professionals, and instill confidence in them. We should create a sense of awareness amongst every African child- that they are the hope of Africa. Their self-esteem should be well managed, and a “can do spirit” should be inculcated into them at early childhood.

“We should think of having our own “Silicon Valley” to develop home grown solutions that are made by Africans and are for Africans. We are the only ones who know our problems hence, we are the best people to fix it.

“I believe the new energy world will continue to evolve and present exciting and inspiring challenges for us in Ghana and Africa as a whole.”

He added: “As the adoption of renewables and volume of local generation increases, so will the complexity of keeping supply and demand in balance.

“Sophisticated systems and controls are needed to integrate an ever-wider set of energy sources and interface with regional traded energy markets, all while ensuring stability, reliability and maximising efficiency.

“At the heart of all this will be a tripartite of engineering, ICT and youth empowerment. In other words, the engineering principles will remain the same but we will only make it more and more efficient through ICT, by allowing the youth to lead the way.”