eCARE Installs Ict Facility At Adjaraja Beposo

The eCARE project’s quest to bridge the wide gap between urban and rural dwellers in the use of telecommunication facilities and renewable energy services was given a big boost when it inaugurated one of its sophisticated Rural Business Centres (RBCs) at Adjaraja Beposo, to enable the people have easy access to telephone, computer training, internet, renewable energy and other value added services.

Adjaraja Beposo is an under-privileged community near Prang in the Pru District of Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The Inauguration of the RBC, would provide the people of that community with Information and Communication Technology Services powered by renewable energy (solar).

The RBC, equipped with telephones, computers, printer and powered by solar energy, is a collaborative effort between the Ghana Telecom (GT), The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Foundation (UNF), Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE) and Telenor Management Partner (TMP).

The people of Adjaraja Beposo are the first to benefit from the eCARE facility in Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana and in the northern sector of the country.

By this feat, people will no longer have to walk/travel long distances to Prang or Atebubu just to make calls, or have their mobile phones charged.

 Inaugurating the centre, the Minister of Communication, Professor Mike Oquaye, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. Kwasi Adu-Gyan, an ICT Adviser at the Ministry, said Ghana had witnessed tremendous growth in Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication. He said the telecommunication sector had benefited tremendously from an investment in-flow of $8 million.

Prof. Oquaye disclosed that Ghana, which ranked 143rd in 2004, in terms of e-government preparedness by the United Nations (UN), has now placed 133rd, out of 191 countries, in 2005.

 “It is obvious that the eCARE centres provide Ghana Telecom and partners with an opportunity to give back to under-privileged communities. Gradually, the luxury of communication as it was considered a few years ago is becoming part of the lives of peri-urban and rural societies,” he observed.

According to the Minister, the eCARE centres would as well provide rural folks with jobs, thus complementing government’s efforts in raising the living standards of individuals and consequently improving Ghana’s socio-economic values.

He commended Ghana Telecom and partners for their relentless efforts in linking communities, irrespective of their geographical location, to the rest of the world, through the power of technology in the face of its numerous challenges.

In a speech read for him, the Chief Executive Officer of GT, Frode Haugen said, GT had been deploying all its technical capacity to bring the eCARE project to completion to break the ICT barriers between the urban, and deprived communities in the country.   

“As the global village undergoes development at a fast pace, we have identified how best we can provide under-privileged societies with ICT services which are no more a luxury, but rather a means of enhancing communication with the rest of the world,” he stressed.

Mr. Haugen urged the people of Adjaraja Beposo and its surrounding communities to make maximum use of the eCARE centre, since it had been established for the purposes of enhancing communication through the magic of advanced technology.

The eCARE Manager, Mr. Joseph Abanyin said that, at the moment, 25 centres in five regions of the country, namely Central, Eastern, Volta, Greater Accra and Western, were operational disclosing that additional 25 centres would be established by the end of this year.

The chairman of the function, Nana Kwadwo Nyarko II, Omanhene (Chief) of the Prang Traditional Area, emphasized the importance of the ICT to the socio-economic development of every society, and urged the people to take full advantage of the facility, to improve their standard of living.