Akpabio, Aregbesola endorse Ghana’s Hope City ICT Park

The Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, have endorsed the take-off of an innovative ICT-driven park located in the outskirts of Accra, Ghana.
At the official launch of the park called Home Office People Environment (Hope City), Ghana’s President John Mahama said the initiative was a major intervention that will definitely transform the lives of Africans.
According to President Mahama, the world today is driven by knowledge and every idea which pushes the boundaries of impossibility. In his words “Wealth and economic growth is no longer dependent on natural resources but the power of knowledge and ideas and that is why the advanced nations are investing heavily in the service and knowledge economy.
He noted that his government is delighted that an indigenous Ghanaian company, RLG is the pivot of this initiative and promised government support to ensure its success
President Mahama urged other investors to look in the direction of Ghana for similar investment promising tax exemptions and other friendly policies.
In his welcome address, the initiator of the project, Mr. Roland Agambire, Chairman Agams Group said that Hope City is historic because it is a vertical city which will have the tallest buildings on the Continent and an eco-friendly place of convergence of Africa’s ICT brains.
In his words: “The IT hub would be made of six towers including a a 75-storey, 270m tower that will be the highest building in Africa.
“It will have facilities for  IT University equipped with facilities for design, fabrication and assembling of a number of innovative products including ICT hardware and software development, residential area, offices, sports  and other creational facilities.”
Noting that HOPE City will afford Africa the platform to bridge the ICT gap with the rest of the world, Agambire said the project will accommodate over 50,000 people who will live and work there.
He said his company, RLG Limited, is already partnering with Microsoft in an initiative that will actively engage 300 million youths.
Agambire, who is also CEO of RLG Limited, stated that this will help improve the continent’s competitiveness while equipping the beneficiary youths of 15 years to 24 years with relevant start-up skills to enable them drive sustainable economic growth.
Hope City, which is due for completion in 2016, will gulp $10 billion.
Agambire said it will house the best Ghana and Africa would offer in ICT and economic transformation.
In his speech, Aregbesola stated that he was in Ghana to applaud the initiative because of RLG’s work in Osun State.
He revealed that RLG is now training 20,000 youths on how to maintain, repair, assemble, manufacture and market current digital equipment, and therefore, the HOPE CITY will definitely impact positively on the ICT growth of Africa.
Akpabio in his remarks noted that HOPE CITY was an ambitious dream that will transform the information technology industry and the economy of Ghana in particular and Africa in general.
He called on all well meaning Africans to support this dream project.
Describing the City as a bold and commendable attempt to increase ICT penetration in Africa, Governor Akpabio promised that Akwa Ibom State was already in talks with the initiators of the project to form a formidable synergy that will benefit indigenes of the state.
Also speaking at the occasion, Ali Faramaway, Microsoft Vice President, Middle East/Africa, said that his organization was happy to partner with innovative projects on the continent.
Faramaway stated that Microsoft is constantly working on how information technology can enable Africa have a better story.
He said Microsoft is interested in issues that relate to the manner information technology is used in improving the industrial climate, the role of information technology in driving innovation and the role of infotech in increasing and improving organisational capability in government and private sectors.
In addition, he stated that anything that has do with skills development and IT access form part of his company’s core involvement on the continent and that Microsoft is ready to partner with organizations on these core areas of focus.