REGIONAL INSIGHTS
An aerial view of the Accra Digital Centre
GHANA’S ANSWER TO SILICON VALLEY IS INSIDE REFURBISHED GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS / Read original article here /
Imagine 100 startups housed in 12 refurbished buildings and located in a large compound with sufficient parking space. These 12 buildings provide 8,820 square metres of space customised to fit the needs of each startup—from a small team of five employees to a massive call centre of 100 employees.
T
his project in the heart of Ghana’s capital city, the Accra Digital Centre, is a symbol of Ghana’s ambition to be the startup capital of Africa. It aims to house the largest group of entrepreneurs, incubators, and accelerators from Ghana. The digital centre in Accra is one out of 16 others that the government plans to build around the country. “Beyond Ghana’s capital city, the government has identified unused government buildings around the country,” said David Ofori, Head of Operations at the Accra Digital Centre. “We’ve been working on buildings at Kumasi, Tamale, and Takoradi. All the costs and appraisals have been done.”
32
SYNAPSE | 1ST QUARTER 2022
Getting the project off the ground Started in 2011, the Accra Digital Centre project was financed by the World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation. It started with the renovation of a collection of 12 old warehouses belonging to the Public Works Department. But due to changing government regimes and interests, the project wasn’t fully operational until 2017. Four years later, the Accra Digital Centre is living up to expectation and looks to be a worthy template for other centres across the country. Coincidentally, this aligns with increasing startup activity in the country. The success of the Accra Digital Centre is indicative of what Ofori, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, and even President Nana
Akufo-Addo hope is a new future for Ghana. President Akufo-Addo has made it a priority to support innovation and entrepreneurship since coming into office in 2017. While Ghana still needs to lure more international investors and further ease rules for entrepreneurs, the country, backed by government officials and tech leaders, has started to inject new energy into the startup scene is already one of Africa’s top destinations for startup investment. Based on Partech’s 2020 report, Ghana displaced Rwanda to take up fifth place. To keep this momentum going, Ofori believes the government’s decision to bankroll this project is important because it helps bridge the gap between the privileged and less privileged.
