The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (GI-KACE), in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), has extended its impactful capacity-building initiatives in the northern belt of Ghana. The Building Resilience in Northern Ghana (BRING) Project is an initiative under the Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH) Program, to transform how local government operates across Ghana’s northern regions and address the critical need for digital transformation in governance The first phase of the training, which began on Monday, August 11, 2025, actively engaged some selected staff from various Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Regional Co-ordinating Councils (RCCs), and Regional Agriculture Departments (RADs) in the Upper West Region, Savannah Region and North East Region with essential digital literacy and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) skills.
Speaking about the BRING project, Mrs Priscilla Hope, Project Manager at GI-KACE, stated that the purpose of the training is to equip local government staff with essential digital skills, enabling them to better engage with citizens, work efficiently in a collaborative digital environment, promote local initiatives, and enhance public service delivery in the digital age.
At the WA-East District Assembly Funsi, an Assistant Programmer (MIS), Ibrahim Ibn Alhassan, commended the initiative as being good and timely.
According to him, the training will enhance all participants’ digital skills to boost efficiency, foster innovation, and improve service delivery.
“The practical application, with hands-on sessions about the training, has really helped us to immediately implement learned strategies within our respective assemblies,” he added. A representative from the Department of Agriculture at the WA-East District Assembly Funsi, Vida Azumah expressed her satisfaction for the efforts of GI-KACE and GIZ in bridging the digital divide and foster a digitally literate workforce across Ghana, aligning with national development goals for improved governance and citizen engagement. “This training did not just meet my expectations, it has reformed how I will work,” she stated.
In Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District, Modesta Bayor a Public Health Nurse from the Ghana Health Service described the training as both exciting and interesting, noting that she learned new skills beyond what she already knew. She explained that if she has to meet a deadline, it will help her analyze her work very well and get other information which she couldn’t have been able to get.
Alhassan Rahinatu a district Girls Education Officer from Mamprugu Moagduri District expressed deep gratitude for the training, calling it timely and impactful. She explained that now that the training has taken place, it will improve her learning digital skills. She added that her expectations were fully met, highlighting that it will help her keep her work accurate and maintain secrecy with sensitive reports unlike before when she had to give them to someone to write for her.
Abdul-Salaam Alhassan a Management Information System (MIS) Officer from the Department of Agriculture at the WA-Municipal acknowledged that before the training, he had gaps in his knowledge in Microsoft Office but now feels confident in using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and professional email communication. He noted that with the five days training he can now confidently use Microsoft Word, format documents, create professional emails with a signature, and generate simple analysis with Excel. “The impact this training has brought to me is that, with Excel, I can now empower myself to generate reports into simple statistical tools, and with AI I can improve my research and train my staff,” he emphasized. The BRING Project is expected to equip a total of 764 staff members from Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), and Regional Agriculture Departments (RADs) with essential digital literacy and Geographic Information System (GIS) skills
Participating districts include; WA East District; Wa Municipal / Upper West RCC, Lawra Municipal, Savannah RCC, Nandom Municipal, Lambussie District, Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District, North Gonja, Mamprugu Moagduri, WA West District, Jirapa Municipal, Nandowli Kaleo District, Sissala East Municipal, Sissala West District, and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba.