Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, says Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the forefront of economic transformation and has the potential to reshape various sectors of the economy, therefore Ghana must leverage it for economic growth.
This was made known in a news statement copied to The High Street Journal. Dr Opoku-Afari who was speaking at the 2nd Emerging Countries International Conference on Business, Finance, and Economics held at the University of Ghana Business School said since 2022, AI has significantly influenced various sectors, driving innovation and prompting critical discussions on
“AI has come to stay and so let us embrace its positive impact on the economy and allow it to shape our future”, the statement said.
Dr. Opoku-Afari speaking on AI productivity enhancement said the AI transformative process is taking place organically, testifying that it is a revolution that cannot be stopped. He said for the past decade AI has witnessed significant shifts in the technological space driven by rapid advancements.
As a result, the global economy is slowly being transformed and opportunities are being created in the process through revolutionizing productivity and driving growth. He emphasized AI’s impact on sectors such as finance, agriculture, healthcare, and education.
He said in Ghana, the introduction of AI-enabled digital banking services to be harnessed to simplify credit scoring, allowing SMEs to access much-needed financing.
This, in turn, boosted entrepreneurial activity, spurs job creation, and strengthened the economy.
In the financial sector, AI-driven fintech solutions are promoting financial inclusion which makes platforms like Paystack and Flutterwave use machine learning to detect fraud and simplify transactions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These innovations are not only boosting productivity, but also driving economic growth by enabling businesses to thrive.
He said that, at the Bank of Ghana, AI has been employed to help with forecasting and generating near-term forecasts through the development of algorithms and creation of crawlers.
The First Deputy Governor said AI used at the Central Bank provides inflation for the bank with real time inflation numbers.
However despite these benefits from AI, there are several challenges that needs to be tackled as a developing country.
Dr Opoku-Afari outlined some key issues which included ethical and regulatory concerns, capacity building, digital divide and energy related infrastructure gaps.
He said reliable electricity and internet connectivity are prerequisites for AI adoption. This, he said, remained inconsistent in many parts of Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa. “Many emerging countries lack the necessary data infrastructure and quality data to train and deploy AI models effectively”, he added.
He said the ethical implications of AI, such as bias, privacy, and job displacement, need to be carefully considered and addressed, saying, without robust regulations, AI could exacerbate existing inequalities or be misuse, therefore, developing ethical frameworks and policies is essential.
The First Deputy Governor said to harness the full potential of AI while mitigating its risks, it is important to focus on implementing policies that would lay a solid foundation for effective adoption of AI solutions. However, he said Ghana must invest in digital infrastructure, enhance human capital, fostering local innovation, establishing regulatory frameworks ans promote partnership.
Nonetheless, by 2030, AI is expected to contribute over $15 trillion to the global economy. While much of this growth is predicted to occur in advanced economies, emerging countries have unique opportunities to leapfrog traditional developmental trajectories by embracing AI.
The event was on the theme “The Intersection Between AI, Productivity, and Growth in Emerging Countries”, the conference united experts, policymakers, and academics from institutions from the University of Mauritius and Stellenbosch University to discuss AI’s opportunities and challenges.
