The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng will officially open the maiden Ghana STEM conference with a keynote address on Friday 28th September 2018 at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Ghana STEM conference, part of the weeklong Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Africa Science Week Ghana celebrations will play host to hundreds of participants from academia, corporate Ghana, the STEM Community, the Diplomatic Corps, students and practitioners in STEM in Ghana and across the sub-region.

Under the theme, Accelerating Growth and Development through STEM - the conference seeks to elevate the conversation, foster greater participation and encourage the active adoption of STEM to accelerate Ghana’s development.

The Minister, who will also co-chair the conference, will speak to the need for a concerted effort to leverage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to drive large scale innovations that propel economic growth and prosperity.

The maiden African Science Week Ghana celebrations, an initiative of the Africa Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Next Einstein Forum (NEF) is scheduled for 25th to 29th September 2018.

The NEF Africa Science Week celebrations is Africa’s biggest annual celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) that brings together thousands of participants to engage in coordinated events aimed at promoting the adoption of STEM across the African continent.

The celebrations are being held in over 34 African countries including Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Sudan among others.

Ghana’s celebration kicks off on Tuesday 25th September with a coding and virtual reality outreach for school children in Ho in the Volta Region followed by a Practical Science and Open hardware outreach in selected schools within Tamale on Wednesday 26th September.

The celebrations will continue with an exhibition of local innovations of businesses as well as a hands-on STEM activation for selected schools in Kumasi on 27th September.

The Ghana STEM conference on Friday 28th September is the highlight of the celebrations providing opportunities for conversations and exhibitions of the latest innovations and researches that are transforming lives across the continent.

The celebrations will end on Saturday 29th September with a Data Science and Hackathon session for problem solvers at Workshed in Accra and and Open STEM day for pupils at the Planetarium in Accra.

The NEF Africa Science Week celebration is powered by Upendi PR (www.upendipr.com), a leading PR and Communications firm providing total communication solutions to businesses and individuals across Africa.

The celebration is expected to attract and impact over 5,000 participants across 4 regions over a 5-day period as follows:

Day 1 — Full day Coding and Virtual Reality workshop for pupils from selected Junior High Schools in Ho (Volta Region) in partnership with the Ghana Code Club and Ho Node. Participants will be empowered to code games using Scratch programming.

Day 2 — Full day Practical Science and Open hardware activities in selected schools in Tamale (Northern Region) in partnership with TeachForGhana.

Day 3 — Exhibition of local innovations and conversation on Open Science and Hardware for local business plus hands on STEM activation for selected basic schools in Kumasi (Ashanti Region) in partnership with Kumasi Hive.

Day 4 — Full day Africa Science Week Conference and Exhibitions involving keynotes, panel discussions and exhibitions of the latest innovations in STEM at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Accra.

Day 5 — STEM open day and exhibitions for young people at the Planetarium, and a Data Science & Hackathon (Data-thon) for problem solvers supported by Developers in Vogue, Global Lab Network and the Planetarium. The celebrations is supported by the MTN Foundation and GhanaThink.