Ghana targets $5bn a year in AI gains, says Sam George
The minister says better crop yields and more efficient public services could deliver the gains, backed by a $270m investment commitment.
Ghana is targeting about $5 billion in annual economic gains from artificial intelligence, Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Sam George has said.
He said the government expects the gains to come through increased productivity, lower food imports and savings from more efficient public services.
The minister also announced a $270 million government commitment to support its AI ambitions, with $250 million earmarked for the first phase of a national AI compute centre and $20 million for an AI fund.
Speaking in an interview ahead of the second episode of the Digital Economy Forum, Mr George said deploying the technology in agriculture, healthcare, education and public administration would help shape Ghana’s economic development over the next decade.
“We’re hoping that on average, you’ll add about $5 billion a year to our economy in terms of productivity, in terms of savings that are made, in terms of, for example, our food security,” he said.
Agriculture was a central part of the minister’s case. He argued that farmers overseas were using precision farming to achieve higher yields from the same amount of land, contributing to Ghana’s reliance on imported food.
He said introducing AI through agricultural mechanisation centres could help Ghanaian farmers increase production and reduce that dependence.
The government is also exploring satellite imagery, weather prediction systems and AI-powered agricultural extension services to give farmers information to improve their yields.
Mr George identified public administration as another potential source of savings, saying manual processes create unnecessary costs while disconnected government databases limit the use of information in decision-making.
His ministry is developing a national data exchange hub intended to connect 48 government data registries, allowing information held by different institutions to support national planning.
He said this could eventually help the Finance Ministry allocate resources according to development needs.
“The finance minister should be able to write a budget that is not driven by sentiments and political rhetoric, but that’s driven by hardcore data at the click of a button,” he said.
The proposed AI compute centre would provide the processing capacity needed to analyse large volumes of data and run AI applications.
Mr George said the government wanted capacity beyond Ghana’s immediate requirements so the facility could also offer computing services to other African countries.
The proposed AI fund would seek additional investment from private institutions, including banks and insurance companies. He said the government was considering incentives to encourage participation.
The figure remains a government projection, dependent on investment, infrastructure development and the successful adoption of AI across the economy.
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