Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has positioned Africa as central to the future of artificial intelligence (AI), calling the continent the world’s next “gold mine” because of its vast and fast-growing data resources.
Speaking at the Pan African AI Summit in Accra, the Minister said Africa’s youthful demographics will shape the global data economy. “By 2030, one in every four people globally will be African, with the continent’s average age standing at just 23,” he noted. This, he added, means Africa generates “massive amounts of data that, if properly harnessed under strong national policies, can be transformed into a powerful global resource.”
Sam George warned that gaps in international AI systems highlight the risks of Africa not controlling its data. He cited U.S. Homeland Security systems as an example: “American Homeland Security systems record only 49 percent accuracy when processing data on black males, largely due to the absence of African data sets.”
Outlining Ghana’s domestic AI strategy, the Minister said the government’s priorities include agriculture, to strengthen food security; healthcare, to improve last-mile delivery; and education, to bridge the digital divide. He also revealed plans to convene a major continental forum. “The Ministry plans to host ‘Africa Tech Davos’ in Accra by mid-next year,” he said, adding that the event would bring together ICT ministers, global technology leaders such as Google, Microsoft, Nvidia and Oracle, as well as African innovators to chart a unified strategy for Africa’s digital future.
Language barriers, he said, remain one of Africa’s most pressing technical challenges. “Many agri-tech tools that use drone or satellite imagery for precision farming, he explained, are inaccessible to local farmers in areas such as Bono or Damongo because they operate only in English.” To address this, local universities have been tasked with developing large language models (LLMs) for Ghanaian languages. “Progress has been made in Twi, Ga, and Nzema, with ongoing work in Ewe and Dagbani,” he said, adding that continent-wide initiatives are underway for Hausa, Yoruba, Creole, and Swahili.
The Minister underscored the importance of data-driven governance, cautioning against policy-making based on sentiment. He described AI as a “critical tool” that can handle repetitive tasks and free up human capacity for higher-level thinking, but stressed limits to its role. “AI must never replace human reasoning or grey matter,” he said.
