Is Ghana Awakening to AI? A focus on education, national development, and global competitiveness.

Nicholas Donkor, Student at Park University ( MSc Information System and Business Analytics)

Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology in the 21st century, redefining education, governance, and industry.

Globally, leading economies such as the United States are prioritizing AI adoption in education and development strategies, with President Donald Trump recently reaffirming AI as central to America’s competitiveness (Reuters, 2025; The Guardian, 2025).

The African continent, and Ghana in particular, faces a critical question: Is Ghana awakening to AI in ways that will position the country for national development and global competitiveness?

AI in Education: Ghana’s Emerging Landscape.

AI has begun reshaping education globally by enhancing personalized learning, adaptive assessments, and teacher support systems.

In Ghana, experimental projects illustrate how AI can transform student outcomes.

For example, Rori, an AI-powered math tutor delivered via WhatsApp, significantly improved student math scores across 11 schools (Sailo et al., 2024).

Similarly, Kwame for Science, a bilingual AI teaching assistant, served learners across 32 African countries, including Ghana, with a high accuracy rate of 87.2% in delivering answers (Animashaun et al., 2023).
At the tertiary level, AI adoption is widespread.

Research:
A study found that 89% of Ghanaian university students use AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and QuillBot in their academic work (Boateng, 2024).

These developments suggest a growing acceptance of AI in education, although they also raise questions about ethical use, digital literacy, and academic integrity.

AI and national development:
Beyond education, AI presents opportunities for Ghana’s national development.

Applications in healthcare (predictive analytics for disease detection), agriculture (AI-powered farming solutions), and public administration (smart governance systems) can improve efficiency and inclusiveness (Financial Times, 2024a).

Policy frameworks are emerging, but gaps remain.

The Ghana AI Journey Report (2025) highlights progress in integrating AI into digital governance and education but warns of infrastructural and regulatory shortcomings (Global Partnership Institute, 2025).

Scholars recommend stronger government– academia–industry partnerships to design context-specific policies (Asare, 2023).

Without these, Ghana risks falling behind peers such as South Africa and Nigeria, which are further along in implementing AI strategies.

Ecosystem strengths and innovation hubs:
Ghana hosts vibrant AI related institutions and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS-Ghana) offers advanced training in machine intelligence, while the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) supports AI-focused startups (AIMS, 2024; MEST, 2024).

Civil society and private actors also play a role. For instance, Ernestina Edem Appiah’s Ghana Code Club launched the Hopper Dean AI Centre to foster AI literacy among youth (Appiah, 2024).

These initiatives, combined with a youthful population (median age ~20), position Ghana to cultivate a skilled AI workforce capable of competing globally (Financial Times, 2024b).

However, infrastructural constraints such as limited broadband access and inconsistent electricity pose persistent barriers to scaling these innovations.

Global competitiveness, challenges and opportunities.
On the global stage, AI has become a strategic driver of competitiveness. Countries investing heavily in AI research, education, and infrastructure are shaping future labor markets and trade systems.

For Ghana, the challenge lies in catching up while avoiding dependency on imported technologies. Scholars argue that technological leapfrogging using targeted policies such as tax incentives and innovation challenges could enable Ghana to build competitive AI capacities (Kwakye, 2023).

Nevertheless, risks exist. If AI adoption is not inclusive, it may widen inequalities, excluding rural communities and underfunded schools from the benefits of digital transformation (Innovation Africa, 2024).

Ghana’s competitiveness, therefore, hinges on balancing rapid adoption with equitable access.
Ghana is indeed awakening to AI, particularly in education and entrepreneurship, with tangible projects like Rori, Kwame for Science, and the Hopper Dean AI Centre signaling progress.

Yet the path to full integration into national development and global competitiveness requires robust policies, improved infrastructure, and strategic investment in local innovation.

The opportunity for Ghana is clear: with decisive action, it can position itself not only as a participant but as a leader in Africa’s AI transformation.

References
AIMS. (2024). African Institute for Mathematical Sciences: Annual Report. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Institute_for_Mathematical_Sciences
Animashaun, O., et al. (2023). Kwame for Science: AI teaching assistant in West Africa. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.10786
Appiah, E. E. (2024). Ghana Code Club and Hopper Dean AI Centre initiatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernestina_Edem_Appiah
Asare, E. (2023). Integrating AI into education in Ghana: Policy analysis. ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1455735.pdf
Boateng, K. (2024). AI adoption among Ghanaian university students. Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-93539-8_17
Financial Times. (2024a). AI replacing traditional aid in Africa. https://www.ft.com/content/d02eb244-8b48-48b1-bd17-f5e48677e22b
Financial Times. (2024b). Africa’s youth and AI opportunities. https://www.ft.com/content/bdab80fe-e800-4c1c-926d-a6faa750cd57
Global Partnership Institute. (2025). Ghana’s AI Journey: Progress and lessons. https://globalpi.org/research/ghanas-ai-journey-progress-challenges-and-lessons-from-global-leaders
Innovation Africa. (2024). AI in education: Transforming African learning. https://innovation-africa.org/2025/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AI-in-Education-Africa-Review.pdf
Kwakye, S. (2023). Artificial Intelligence and Africa’s leapfrogging potential. CIGI. https://www.cigionline.org/documents/3325/Kwarkye.pdf
MEST. (2024). Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology annual review. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meltwater_Entrepreneurial_School_of_Technology
Reuters. (2025, Sept. 4). Trump commits to pursuing peace and AI innovation. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-commits-pursuing-russia-ukraine-peace-cbs-news-reports-2025-09-04
Sailo, N., et al. (2024). Rori: AI WhatsApp tutor improving math scores in Ghana. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.09809
The Guardian. (2025, Sept. 4). Trump highlights AI and technology in U.S. agenda. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/sep/04/donald-trump-tariffs-immigration-technology-epstein-us-politics-live-news-updates