The Ghanaian government has announced plans to generate 45,000 jobs in the African country's economy to harness the potential of IT.

The minister of communication Huruna Iddrisu revealed that tens of thousands of jobs will be generated in the next two years as the country's information technology enabled services (ITES) industry is expanded.

This project will contribute $750 million annually and is expected to lead to greater foreign investment and job creation by 2011, Ghana News Agency reported.

Mr Iddrisu explained that the government has decided to prioritize the growth of a "strong and vibrant" private sector to further Ghana's economic agenda.

He said: "As part of government strategy, several programmes are being implemented under the eGhana project to make the country the preferred destination of ITES-Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) companies in the continent."

Earlier this month, the Ghanaian Chronicle claimed that unemployment is one of the major problems blighting the African country.