Ghana’s Samuel George Says Africa Must Build Its Own AI Future

Africa’s digital future cannot be built one country at a time. That was one of the strongest messages from Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel George, during a recent conversation with TechAfrica News at MWC 2026 in Barcelona.

The discussion moved beyond Ghana alone and touched on a bigger issue: whether African countries can create a shared digital future that allows innovation, AI growth, and digital trade to scale across borders.

As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital economies rapidly evolve worldwide, African governments are increasingly facing a difficult question: should they continue building isolated national systems, or should they create frameworks that work across the continent?

For Minister George, the answer appears clear.

Africa Needs a Continental Digital Mindset

Many African countries have developed their own digital strategies, but different regulations, licensing requirements, and standards often make expansion difficult for technology companies.

A startup that successfully launches in Ghana may face completely different regulatory hurdles when entering Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, or other African markets.

According to George, digital transformation requires a broader mindset.

Instead of building only for local markets, African innovators need to think continentally.

Ghana’s population of roughly 33 million people, while significant, represents only a fraction of the opportunity available across Africa.

Solutions created today could potentially scale across hundreds of millions of users if barriers between markets become smaller.

Regulation Should Enable Innovation

Regulation often creates concern among startups and technology communities.

Too little regulation can create security problems and fragmented systems. Too much regulation can slow innovation and create unnecessary barriers.

George argued that regulation should function as an enabler rather than an obstacle.

This becomes particularly important as governments rethink laws originally designed before today’s AI systems, cloud infrastructure, fintech platforms, and digital services existed.

Ghana itself is currently reviewing several technology-related laws as part of broader digital reforms.

The objective appears to be creating stronger protections while still allowing innovation to grow.

AI Readiness Starts With Skills

One of the strongest themes from the conversation focused on AI and employment.

Concerns around job losses caused by artificial intelligence continue to grow globally. However, George suggested that the bigger challenge may not be AI itself but preparation.

He referenced studies predicting that millions of jobs could disappear because of AI while even more new roles emerge.

The challenge becomes preparing workers for those new opportunities.

Ghana’s response includes programs such as:

• DIGSMART
• One Million Coders Programme
• Cybersecurity training initiatives
• AI and cloud computing education

The goal is not to resist AI adoption.

The goal is preparing people to participate in the next economy.

As AI changes industries, countries that invest early in digital skills may gain a significant advantage.

Data Could Become Africa’s Hidden Asset

Artificial intelligence systems rely heavily on data.

George argued that Africa possesses one of its most valuable but underutilized resources: its own information.

Large AI systems increasingly require diverse data to improve models, understand languages, and build region-specific solutions.

Historically, much of Africa’s digital information has been underrepresented within global AI systems.

That creates both a challenge and an opportunity.

The push toward data sovereignty aims to ensure African data remains controlled within African ecosystems and generates economic value locally rather than simply feeding external platforms.

Building African AI Infrastructure

Another notable area discussed involved infrastructure.

Ghana reportedly plans to develop a $250 million AI computing centre intended to support innovators and researchers beyond national borders.

There is also growing discussion around developing large language models that support African languages including:

• Yoruba
• Hausa
• Swahili
• Ghanaian local languages
• Creole languages

Language inclusion matters because many global AI systems still perform better in major international languages than in local African languages.

Creating local AI systems could reduce that gap.

Digital Trade Still Faces Regulatory Friction

Africa already has frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) intended to improve regional integration.

However, implementation remains a major challenge.

Technology companies frequently encounter repeated licensing requirements, regulatory duplication, and compliance barriers when entering new African markets.

Mutual recognition systems and regulatory harmonisation could potentially reduce these obstacles and help startups expand faster.

The Bigger Question

Africa does not appear to have a shortage of digital strategies, frameworks, or policy documents.

The larger challenge may be execution.

The next phase of Africa’s digital growth may depend less on creating new ideas and more on turning existing ideas into practical systems that work across borders.

For Samuel George, the future seems to depend on a simple principle:

African solutions should increasingly be built by Africans, for Africans.

Written by Anibel

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