African ministers participating in the ongoing UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence have backed Ghana’s call for stronger continental cooperation in the development of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.
Contributing to discussions on Ghana’s proposal to develop computing infrastructure with a continental outlook, one of the participating ministers said African countries must adopt a collective approach to solving the continent’s technological challenges rather than relying solely on individual national efforts.
The minister endorsed the position advanced by Ghana’s Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, that Ghana’s planned investment in AI computing infrastructure should serve not only the Ghanaian market but also the wider African region.
He said such cooperation was consistent with Africa’s history of collective action and the Pan-African vision championed by the continent’s founding leaders.
The minister referenced Ghana’s independence under
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the subsequent Pan-African efforts involving leaders including Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania
He said the collective efforts of African leaders contributed to the continent’s broader liberation struggles and eventually the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which later became the **African Union (AU).
According to him, the same spirit of African solidarity must now be applied to contemporary challenges such as artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and technological sovereignty.
He warned that African countries risk remaining dependent on external actors if they fail to develop collective solutions to the continent’s technology needs.
“Unless we have the same mentality of looking into African problems and getting an African solution, we may be treated as a free place,” he cautioned.
The minister described Ghana’s decision to develop computing infrastructure with the wider African market in mind as an example of the kind of continental thinking required to advance Africa’s digital transformation.
He said regional cooperation could allow African countries to share infrastructure, expertise and computing resources instead of duplicating expensive investments across individual countries.
The intervention effectively endorsed Ghana’s position on the need for a coordinated African strategy on AI infrastructure and digital development.
Ghana’s proposal is centred on building high-performance computing and AI infrastructure that can provide affordable and sovereign access to researchers, universities and technology start-ups across Ghana and the wider sub-region.
Hon. Samuel George has maintained that the continent must combine **computing infrastructure, human capacity, African data and a collective policy position** to ensure that AI development reflects African interests and values.
The discussions at the UNESCO forum are therefore increasingly highlighting the need for Africa to move beyond being a consumer of AI technologies and become an active participant in shaping the infrastructure, standards and ethical frameworks that will govern the technology.
By Laud Adu-Asare
