Barcamp Ghana started in 2008, inspired by the energy of Barcamp Africa, an event held at GooglePlex in California, United States. Its open and participatory model created a space where people could connect, share ideas, and drive innovation without the rigid structure of traditional conferences.
Ato Ulzen-Appiah, the director of the GhanaThink Foundation, a social enterprise rooted in Ghana and the U.S., was present at the event, alongside his co-founders. Inspired by the model, they considered the idea of creating a similar space in Ghana for young Ghanaians to connect.
“Imagine you have gone to your favourite bar in Ghana with a few friends, amidst a lot of people you do not know. It is like you have camped at a bar. You would have conversations that matter to you. Now, remove the alcohol, the music, add a lot more groups of friends, add the strangers, networking, interaction and keep the good vibes. Then you have a Barcamp,” described Ulzen-Appiah.
The organisation hosted its first Barcamp in Ghana on December 22, 2008, and have been driving it towards “its vision of building a critical mass of young patriotic, passionate, positive, proactive, progressive and productive people in Ghana,” according to a statement from the foundation to TheAfricanDream.net. They indicated that a Barcamp “is a free forum which is all about learning, sharing, networking and mentoring.”
The first event took place at the Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in IT in Accra, under the theme “Fuelling Ghana’s Business and Tech Renaissance.” It included discussions and mentoring sessions, which set the tone for a movement that has grown to over 123 annual events across Ghanaian cities like Accra, Kumasi, Wa, and Tamale.
Since then, it has impacted over 23,300 participants, cultivating a vibrant network of entrepreneurs and changemakers. The flagship program of learning, sharing, networking, mentoring, takes place on Saturdays and participation ranges between 100 and 400 people at a time depending on location. A number of the program’s participants have described their experience at the events as a “priceless” contribution to their personal developments.
Mentors are carefully selected and invited, and are based in the location of the Barcamp. This according to GhanaThink is to celebrate young people who are thriving in their chosen professions or businesses, and also prove to the local youth that they can also be successful in their towns or cities. “It is a great way for these mentors to interact with younger people, hire smart youth, and for professional relationships to be built,” said GhanaThink.
Rukaya Sukah led the first Barcamp in Wa, an Upper West region of Ghana, in 2015. She was one of the first female coordinators for a Barcamp organised by GhanaThink, alongside the likes of Kafui AnsonYevu who led Barcamp Accra. She is currently the Barcamp Ghana Logistics Lead, taking over from longtime lead Leonard Hagan.
For 2025, she expects Barcampers to form lasting relationships with mentors and link up for more mentoring even after the Barcamp events in their regions. Patrick Keli Atitsogbui is the online and marketing lead for Barcamp Ghana. He was instrumental in executing Barcamp Wa 2025, where participants were equipped to lead meaningful change in their communities. According to him, “Barcamp Wa 2025 inspired bold thinking and practical action”.
Keli was at 11 of the 12 Barcamps organized in Ghana in 2024, moderating the speed networking and speed mentoring sessions. Barcamps in Ghana start with speed networking, where the early birds network with each other. It is coordinated in sessions of 2 minutes each, and this sets the tone for the interactions at the event. Speed mentoring involves selected resource personnel sharing insight, and information to possible mentees.
On the theme for 2025, Keli mentioned, “We are highlighting Impact, Innovation, and Quality this year because they reflect the kind of intentional growth, we want to see among young Ghanaians today. It’s not just about doing more, but doing it uniquely, doing it better, and doing it with purpose. Impact means making a real difference, innovation challenges us to think outside the box, and quality ensures that our work holds long-term value.”
The work of GhanaThink through Barcamps created networks of young people in Ghana who have been supporting each other in their personal development journeys. Communities have been born out of these in various towns and cities in Ghana. These communities started crystallizing with the formation of the Konnect Meetups in Kumasi in 2014. The communities are called Konnect groups, being built and administered through WhatsApp, together with Google Groups.
In 2019, a version of hot seat was organised in Cape Coast Konnect which was affectionately named Konnect Kouch. This #KonnectKouch is a personality interview to learn more about and celebrate achievement. Since COVID, they have been organised physically at Barcamps, where 2 mentors (male and female) are interviewed by a moderator, followed by questions from Barcampers.
Ruky sees the 2025 theme aligning with GhanaThink Foundation’s goal of mobilizing talent for the primary benefit of Ghana. She stated, “The team chose this theme because, to be able to solve the problems we face in this part of our world, we need to be innovative, most of the old ways are failing us. If we focus on quality innovations, our activities, or actions will be sustainable thereby leading to long-lasting impact. If we pay more attention to the kind of impact we want, our actions would help implement higher quality innovations in order to achieve our desired impact.”
GhanaThink ensures that it works with various partners to drive youth empowerment, while aligning with the theme words. At Barcamps, there are presentations from organisations about their products, programs, projects, etc. These give the participants opportunities to grow. Some of these partners share knowledge on topics and themes or about products and programs valuable to participants.
This is deepened through breakout sessions to discuss topical issues, gain feedback on a product or program, provide learning on a skill or quality, etc. The diversity and knowledge of participants foster great discussions, great action points and valuable networking.
These events produce horizontal inspiration, where colleagues and mates mentor and support each other, towards vertical excellence, where youth become empowered and develop towards becoming the best versions of themselves.
In order to participate in these Barcamps, engage GhanaThink on social media. Free registrations happen through eGoTickets, a Ghanaian-built platform developed by Barcampers. Engage Barcamp Ghana via X formerly Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He’s as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
