Ghana’s Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment has partnered with Scopeg AI, a youth-led Ghanaian technology company, to extend its SMS-based AI service, Funza AI, to young people without internet access. Citi Newsroom, 3News, MyJoyOnline and GhanaWeb reported the partnership on 10 November 2026. We did not find a Ministry press release on the agreement, so the terms below are as those outlets reported them.
Funza AI works entirely by text message. A user sends a question to a short code and receives an AI-generated reply within seconds. Citi Newsroom says it needs no internet connection, smartphone or data bundle, and works on any mobile phone, including basic feature phones, on any network in the country. 3News says it runs over basic 2G mobile signals. The service is aimed at students seeking tutoring, farmers needing agricultural advice, small-business owners and young jobseekers looking for career guidance.
Citi Newsroom says more than 9 million people in Ghana, roughly a quarter of the population, do not use the internet, and most of them are young. That figure is the article’s own; we have not independently checked it.
Under the partnership, young people in the Ministry’s programmes will get discounted access to Funza AI, with limited free daily access after that. Neither report gives the discount level, the number of participants or any cost to the Ministry. No investment amount has been disclosed, so this is an access arrangement rather than a funding round.
Scopeg AI’s co-founders are chief executive Klenam Kofi Tamakloe and chief operating officer Kelvin Peprah, according to 3News and the company’s team page. 3News reports that Tamakloe said the team modelled Funza AI on how mobile money brought financial services to feature phones. In a statement quoted by Citi Newsroom, he called the Ministry’s support “exactly the kind of validation a youth-led startup like ours needs”. Minister George Opare Addo reaffirmed the Ministry’s role in helping youth-led businesses to thrive and scale, the reports say.
Funza AI is expected to launch nationally in Ghana by the end of November 2026, with the partnership’s youth access and discount provisions taking effect as part of that rollout. We have not confirmed that the rollout has begun.
Sources
- Citi Newsroom, "Ghana's Ministry of Youth partners with Scopeg AI to bring offline AI to underserved youth" (Nii Larte Lartey, 10 November 2026)
- 3News, "Youth Ministry backs Scopeg AI's offline SMS tool Funza AI" (Araba Incoom, 10 November 2026)
- MyJoyOnline, "Ghanaian startup launches SMS-based AI platform to reach young people without internet access" (10 November 2026)
- GhanaWeb, "Ghana Youth Ministry and Scopeg AI Bring Offline AI to Underserved Youth" (10 November 2026)
- Scopeg AI, team page
