A US$8.3-million digital centre has been unveiled by Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama in the nation's capital Accra. The facility aims to redefine the digital ecosystem in Ghana and create more than 10,000 direct jobs for the country's youth according to communication from the government.

President Mahama emphasised the employment benefits of the project which first began in 2011 through finance from the World Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation.

"The Accra Digital Centre, is a major step in putting Ghana on the map as a credible bonafide destination for local and global IT and outsourcing companies. And it is testimony to my government's commitment to massive job creation. This is because as manufacturing becomes increasingly automated and robots replace human capital, the IT industry continues to be one of the areas that has rapid solutions to rapidly address our graduate and youth employment challenges. This includes outsourcing and the new economy jobs."

The new centre is a collection of 12 old warehouses of Ghana's Public Works Department, which has been renovated with each of the buildings occupying 735 square metres.

President Mahama revealed that the government is working on several more projects to transform the country's digital landscape during the center's inauguration.

"The Ministry of Communication is also developing number of innovations including the M-Labs, I-hubs, Accra Business Processing Outsourcing Incubator, the regional innovation centers and the ICT park in Tema to boost the innovation digital sector,"

Henry Geoffrey Kerali, World Bank Country Director says the organisation is proud to be associated with the project, which he believes will contribute towards efficiency in e-governance and create jobs for all.

"The impact of the centre would go beyond Accra and contribute about 25 percent of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product in the coming years."

Election results transmission reform

The launch of the Accra Digital Centre could boost the President's reelection effort ahead of the 7 December poll as news of the development is shared on his official website, among other achievements during his term.

The election will also see ICT playing a wider role after an announcement from Ghana's Electoral Commission two months ago that an electronic results transmission system would be used during the 2016 poll following reform proposals by the Electoral Reform Committee.

The Committee which was established by the Commission after the 2013 Supreme Court judgment on the Presidential Election Petition.

Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, Head of Communications for the Electoral Commission has cautioned that the Commission would not be doing away with manual methods of capturing election results.

"...all political parties and candidates are entitled to have counting agents present during the counting and collation of results. The Commission would also want to emphasise that the electronic results transmission system does not replace the manual collation process which requires agents of political parties to attest to the accuracy of results before declaration by presiding officers. As explained at Inter-Party Advisory Committee, in the event of a discrepancy between results from the ERTS and the manual results, the manual results would take precedence. This makes it impossible for anyone to attempt to alter declared results in the transmission process. "

President Mahama took office as on 24 July 2012 following the death of his predecessor, John Atta Mills.