The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Sam George, says Ghana is targeting approximately US$5 billion in annual economic gains through the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), with the government banking on improved agricultural productivity, reduced food imports and savings from more efficient public services.

He says the projected gains will come from using AI to increase productivity across key sectors of the economy, eliminate inefficiencies in government operations and improve the country's ability to produce more of what it currently imports.

“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.

Speaking in an interview ahead of the second episode of the Digital Economy Forum, the minister explained that Ghana's economic transformation over the next decade would depend partly on how effectively it deploys AI in agriculture, healthcare, education and public administration.

He identified agriculture as one of the sectors where the country could record significant economic benefits.

Mr. George argued that Ghana continues to spend substantial amounts importing food partly because farmers in other countries are adopting technologies that allow them to produce higher yields from the same amount of land.

“You look at how much money we're spending on importing food. And it's simply because farmers outside of Ghana are doing precision farming and increasing their yield per acre as compared to the Ghanaian farmer,” he said.

He explained that deploying AI through agricultural mechanisation centres could help Ghanaian farmers improve their yields, increase local food production and reduce the country's dependence on imported food.

The government is also exploring the use of satellite imagery, weather prediction systems and AI-powered agricultural extension services to provide farmers with information that can improve their productivity.

According to the minister, similar economic benefits could be realised through the digitisation of government services.

He said existing manual processes across public institutions create unnecessary costs, while fragmented government databases limit the country's ability to make informed decisions.

The ministry is therefore developing a national data exchange hub intended to connect 48 government data registries, allowing information from different public institutions to be analysed and used for national planning.

The Ningo-Prampram MP believes the system could eventually enable the Finance Ministry to make budgetary allocations based on actual development needs rather than political considerations.

“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.

He explained that integrating AI into government operations could also reduce the cost of delivering public services by eliminating repetitive administrative processes and improving compliance.

$270 million investment in AI infrastructure

The minister disclosed that the government has committed US$270 million towards developing the infrastructure and financing mechanisms needed to support its AI ambitions.

Of that amount, US$250 million is earmarked for the first phase of a national AI compute centre, while US$20 million is intended to establish an AI fund.

The proposed compute centre is expected to provide the processing infrastructure required to analyse large volumes of data and support AI applications across different sectors.

The sector minister said the government intends to build a facility with capacity beyond Ghana's immediate requirements, positioning the country to provide computing services to other African countries.

He also indicated that the proposed AI fund would require additional investment from private-sector institutions, including banks and insurance companies, with the government considering incentives to encourage their participation.