The summit is scheduled to take place from October 9th to 11th 2018 with about 250 women across the African continent to determine policy steps needed to close Africa's growing digital gender gap which is the largest in the world.

Mr Odotei said that it is government's desire to build a digital economy through bridging the digital divide. "The gap between men and women who have skills in technology is growing and government will ensure this is bridged.  Fifty (50) per cent of the world's population is connected to the internet, the other 50 which is not connected has majority being women" he

said.

"We inherited the girls in ICT program and last year we expanded it to a week, this year we expanded it to a month with 600 women partaking" he added. He said that the 600 women and girls were taken through coding  stating  "We want to demystify that technology belongs to only  men". He  said  that government is collaborating with Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) and Web Foundation to work towards this.

Government intends to engage a 1000 girls bi-annually in technology and to ensure that girls are granted access to technological revolution. He said that we must realise that technology is relevant because it is the future of mankind, everything we do is enabled by technology.

Government, he said, is involving the private sector in the provision of access of internet infrastructure with  200 communities being granted access to internet connectivity. The forum is focused on finding solutions and complimenting what Government is doing. It will also look at

empowering women with the relevant content and build entrepreneurial competencies.

About 3000 women from various districts have been engaged by government. Government, according to the minister, is currently engaging girls and women access the country on their digital programs.

Sonia Jorge, Executive Director, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) said that this is an Africa wide event and is the second time to be  hosted in Ghana. Ghana was chosen because it has shown incredible leadership in digital development as well as establishing policies addressing women in technology.

"The gender gap in technology is very very wide, our research shows that women are about 50 percent less likely to come online than men and Ghana is no exception and these are to due to factors such as persistent income gaps, access to education and so on" . She said that what is very  worrisome is that once women and girls come online, there is  a  30 to 50 per cent chance that they are not going to the use the internet in a very productive,creative innovative way .

In an interview with Nanjira Sambuli, Senior  Policy Manager, Web foundation; a Nairobi based researcher and analyst, she said that protecting women online begins with sensitizing them before they even get online in order to make them aware of the challenges and  opportunities

that exist in the cyber space. She said women need to understand internet use in order to sensitize their children and those they take care of. "We musn't wait till we get women online. Women's rights online is about political rights, economic rights, civic rights. We must make sure the digital world does not leave women out" she noted.

The summit will feature talks from young African female technologists as well as prominent policymakers and technology leaders such as Mrs  Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Honorable Minister of Communications, Ghana, Dr Omobola Johnson ; former Nigerian Minister of Communication Technology and Bitilokho Ndiaye; Gender Technical Advisor at Ministry of Communication,

Telecommunications, Post and Digital Economy in Senegal. The summit will explore a range of areas with a focus on developing policy to advance access to affordable broadband, women's rights online, digital education skills and digital entrepreneurship.