*Ghana Calls for African Approach to AI Ethics, Infrastructure and Capacity Building*
Ghana's Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, has called for a distinctly African approach to Artificial Intelligence, urging that African values, data, infrastructure and talent must be at the centre of the global AI ecosystem.
Speaking at the UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Minister said Ghana's experience with the UNESCO Readiness Assessment Methodology, RAM, has been critical in shaping its ten-year National AI Strategy.
According to him, the assessment helped Ghana identify its strengths and gaps and provided a clear basis for developing an implementation framework for the strategy.
Hon. Sam George said the conversation on AI ethics must go beyond technical checklists to confront a deeper question: whose values are embedded in AI systems.
He warned that AI models trained without sufficient African data risk misrepresenting and penalising African culture.
He cited an example where an AI system might correctly classify a Western woman in a bikini, but flag an African woman participating in a traditional cultural rite as nudity.
"Such outcomes highlight the danger of developing AI systems without adequate representation of African data, culture and traditions," he said.
He called on UNESCO to ensure African values and perspectives are adequately represented in global AI ethical standards, drawing parallels with social media governance where global community standards often fail to reflect African cultural norms.
The Minister made a strong case for regional computing infrastructure to power Africa's AI ambitions.
He revealed that Ghana is committing US$250 million over the next two years towards AI computing infrastructure, but stressed the investment is continental in vision.
"We're not building for Ghana. Ghana is just 35 million people. We're building that infrastructure with a mindset of Africa as a continent," he stated.
He cautioned against every African country attempting to build expensive, power-intensive infrastructure independently. Instead, he proposed regional hub models.
Under Ghana's plan, the country could serve as a regional computing hub providing affordable, sovereign, high-performance computing access to researchers, universities and start-ups in neighbouring countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and The Gambia.
"This would allow African researchers and start-ups to access computing resources that are more affordable, sovereign and located on the continent," he said.
On human capital, Hon. George outlined Ghana's One Million Coders programme, a flagship initiative to train one million Ghanaians in future-oriented digital skills.
He explained the programme goes beyond coding to include artificial intelligence, data security and cybersecurity.
The initiative is being extended to secondary schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and to 20 major universities where AI courses will become a prerequisite for graduation.
"If you don't do it, you don't graduate from the university," the Minister said.
He also disclosed that in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, Ghana has trained all Chief Directors, equivalent to Permanent Secretaries, in AI skills, with training now being extended to directors and assistant directors across the civil service to ensure regulators can effectively govern the technology.
Looking ahead, the Minister called for a unified African position on AI governance and engagement with global tech giants.
He noted that Ghana will assume the chairmanship of the African Union from February next year, while he is expected to chair the AU Specialized Technical Committee on ICT and Communications. He said Ghana will use both platforms to build continental consensus.
"Ghana alone cannot bring Nvidia or Huawei to the table to meet our position. But when we take a collective position as Africa, then we can have a voice at the table through the African Union," he said.
Hon. George commended UNESCO for providing the platform for dialogue on the ethical, technical and developmental dimensions of AI, reaffirming Ghana's commitment to work with UNESCO, the AU and other partners to ensure AI serves Africa's interests and drives inclusive, sustainable development.
Reporr by PKB
