More than 9 million people in Ghana, roughly a quarter of the population, do not use the internet. Most of them are young.

For this group, the artificial intelligence transforming education, business, and work elsewhere in the world has remained out of reach, not for lack of ambition, but because nearly every AI tool assumes a smartphone and a stable connection that many simply do not have.
Scopeg AI, a youth-led Ghanaian technology company, built Funza AI to close that gap. The platform delivers artificial intelligence offline entirely through SMS.

A user sends a text message to a short code and receives an AI-generated response within seconds, no internet, smartphone, or data bundle required. It works on any mobile phone, including basic feature phones(yam phones), on any network in the country, supporting AI tutoring for students, agricultural advisory and support for farmers, business tools for small enterprises, and career support, guidance ideation support for young jobseekers and entrepreneurs.

This partnership between the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment and Scopeg AI will extend Funza AI, on discounted and complimentary terms, to young people across the Ministry’s programmes. Under the partnership, youth participants will receive discounted access, with ongoing free limited daily access after that.

This showcases the Ministry’s willingness to back homegrown, youth-led companies reflects a forward-looking approach to youth development, one that treats digital access as central to empowerment rather than an afterthought.

Speaking on the partnership, the Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, reaffirmed the Ministry’s role in helping and supporting youth-led businesses to thrive and scale.

Speaking on the partnership, Klenam Kofi Tamakloe, Chief Executive Officer of Scopeg AI, said: “This partnership means a great deal to us, not just as a company, but as young Ghanaians who built this platform because we understood what it feels like to be left out of something that could genuinely change your life. To have the Ministry back that mission, and help bring discounted access to the very young people it was designed for, is exactly the kind of validation a youth-led startup like ours needs.”

Funza AI is expected to launch nationally in Ghana by the end of November, with the partnership’s youth access and discount provisions taking effect as part of that rollout.