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Ghana National AI Strategy 2025–2035: Pillars & Funding

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 07:36:15 +0000

Ghana’s National AI Strategy (2025–2035), launched in April 2026, sets out a decade-long blueprint for digital transformation, projecting a GHS 500 billion contribution to GDP, establishing a new Responsible AI Authority, and committing to one of the most ambitious compute targets on the continent. To unpack what this means for AI regulation in Ghana and for Africa’s digital sovereignty more broadly, Lawyers Hub convened a high-level AI Policy Dialogue bringing together legal, technical, and ecosystem experts. Moderated by Lawyers Hub CEO and Founder Linda Bonyo, the session examined how Ghana AI policy will translate from strategy into practice, and where the gaps between ambition and infrastructure still lie.

Download the Official Ghana National AI Strategy Document

The Eight Pillars of Ghana’s National AI Strategy

The strategy rests on eight pillars, balancing foundational enablers (governance, infrastructure, data, talent) with accelerators (innovation, adoption, investment, international cooperation). Three carry the most weight for early implementation, and they’re the ones that drew the most scrutiny from the panel.

The Responsible AI Authority: Ghana’s New Oversight Body

A new Responsible AI Authority will be incubated within Ghana’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) before transitioning into a standalone commission. The phased approach is pragmatic: it leverages existing institutional capacity at the DPC while a dedicated regulator is built out. The open question is how quickly the Authority will issue binding guidance, and whether it will have enforcement teeth at spin-out.

Compute Ambitions: Targeting 10²⁵ FLOPS by 2035

Ghana is targeting 10²⁵ FLOPS of national computing capacity by 2035, a figure that would put the country in striking distance of frontier-AI training workloads. Fiifi Baidoo, Founder of Cloud Port Limited, flagged the obvious tension: compute targets of this scale require energy infrastructure that Ghana’s current grid cannot reliably support. He also pointed to talent as a parallel bottleneck, urging the government to actively repatriate diaspora technologists and offer competitive incentives to slow brain drain. In other words, the FLOPS number is downstream of two harder problems: power and people.

The National AI Fund: 5 Billion Cedis to Start

The National AI Fund will launch with GHS 5 billion in seed capital across 2025–2030, scaling to GHS 15 billion by 2035. Designed to stimulate local innovation, the fund’s effectiveness will hinge on disbursement mechanics, who qualifies, how decisions are made, and whether early-stage Ghanaian startups can actually access it without being crowded out by incumbents.

Regulatory Framework: Why Ghana May Need an AI Act

Dr. Pretty Tega Edema, Partner at PLPG Legal, warned against the temptation to govern AI through existing data protection and consumer law alone. She argued for an explicit, riskbased AI legal framework along the lines of the EU AI Act, one that classifies AI systems by risk tier and attaches proportionate obligations. Without it, she cautioned, consumer safety risks being treated as a residual concern rather than a design constraint. This is the live debate across African AI policy right now: build standalone AI legislation, or extend existing regimes. Ghana’s strategy leaves the door open to either path.

Ecosystem, Procurement, and Talent

Akua Boakyewaa Mensah, Tech Risk and Compliance Advisor at JDL Tech Solutions Ghana, focused on the conditions that determine whether the strategy actually produces ahomegrown AI sector. Her three priorities: startup-friendly public procurement (so government becomes a first customer rather than a gatekeeper), tax reform to reduce friction on early-stage tech companies, and strict enforcement of data protection rules to build the trust layer that AI adoption depends on.

What This Means for African AI Policy

Ghana joins a small but growing group of African states with formal national AI strategies. The blueprint is ambitious, particularly on compute and funding, and the institutional design (incubating the regulator inside the DPC) is a sensible hedge. Execution is the variable that will decide whether Ghana’s strategy becomes a continental reference point or another well-drafted document.

For ongoing analysis of AI regulation across the continent, see the Africa AI Policy Monthly Review.

Lawyers Hub hosts these tech policy dialogues every Monday. Watch the full video recording below, and join us next week as we continue tracking how Africa shapes its digital future.

South Africa’s Draft National AI Policy: Ambition, Implementation, and the Quest for Algorithmic Sovereignty

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 06:36:27 +0000

South Africa has officially released its Draft National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, marking a pivotal moment in the continent's digital governance. To dissect the mechanics of this landmark framework, Lawyers Hub recently hosted a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Policy Dialogue. Moderated by Lawyers Hub CEO, Linda Bonyo, the panel brought together leading voices including Prof. Alison Gillwald, Mlindi Mashologu, Danjé Sieberhagen, Dr. Andrew Rens, and Frank Eleanya.

The consensus? South Africa has proposed the most elaborate AI governance architecture on the continent —but bridging the gap between bureaucratic ambition and practical implementation remains a profound challenge.

The New Oversight Architecture: Ambition vs. Reality

The draft policy is unprecedented in its institutional scope, proposing the establishment of seven entirely new oversight bodies. This includes a National AI Commission, an AI Ethics Board, and an AI Regulatory Authority. Most notably, it introduces continental firsts: an AI Ombudsperson Office for citizen redress and an AI Insurance Superfund designed to compensate individuals for AI-driven harms.

However, the panel quickly identified a massive implementation risk: none of the four distinct financial vehicles named in the policy—including the highly anticipated AI Innovation Fund—are costed, sourced, or fully operational. As highlighted during the dialogue, proposing seven new institutions simultaneously without a clear funding model leaves these vital oversight mechanisms at risk of remaining purely aspirational.

The Compute Gap and the Open Source Imperative

A thriving digital economy requires more than just regulation; it demands infrastructure. During our session, the debate strongly pivoted toward the necessity of open-source ecosystems for local innovation. Dr. Andrew Rens pointed out that open-source models enable local developers to test systems, interrogate algorithms for bias, and build sustainable solutions.

Yet, the reality for African startups is stark. Despite the policy's promises of grants and tax breaks , local AI ventures are currently hindered by a severe lack of compute capacity and high barriers to foreign exchange. Unlike other regional models that offer concrete compute-credit schemes, South Africa's startups are left waiting for a fully resourced ecosystem.

Anchoring AI in Ubuntu: The Push for Algorithmic Sovereignty

Perhaps the most philosophically profound element of the draft policy is its attempt to embed Ubuntu as a core governance lens. The policy dictates that AI systems must serve the common good and respect human dignity.

However, researchers argue that Ubuntu must do real governance work. South Africa cannot risk becoming a perpetual exporter of raw data while importing foreign-owned insights. As Prof. Benjamin Rosman's insights highlighted in our brief, we must build our own "algorithmic refineries" to achieve true algorithmic sovereignty.

The Window for Action

The window for civil society, industry leaders, and legal practitioners to shape this framework is rapidly closing. The public comment deadline for the draft policy is June 10, 2026. We urge all stakeholders to review the document and submit their formal feedback.

At Lawyers Hub, we believe that shaping Africa’s digital future requires continuous, collaborative dialogue. Join us every Monday as we host vital tech policy discussions focusing on the evolving digital rights landscapes of different African countries.

Missed it? Watch the full recording below.

Analyzing Zimbabwe’s National AI Strategy: Infrastructure, Ubuntu, and the Path Forward

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 07:13:23 +0000

Is Zimbabwe ready for the Artificial Intelligence revolution?

Africa is rapidly becoming a focal point in the global artificial intelligence revolution. As nations race to establish governance frameworks, Zimbabwe has stepped forward with an ambitious, UNESCO-supported National AI Strategy.

This past Monday—as part of Lawyers Hub’s weekly series diving into tech policy across the continent—we partnered with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to unpack this roadmap. Moderated by our Founder and CEO, Linda Bonyo, the session brought together leading experts to explore what this strategy actually means for Zimbabweans.

The Foundation of Ubuntu vs. Infrastructural Realities: Law Tech Strategist Hanani Hlomani, commended the strategy for its agility, noting that it is beautifully grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu—the concept of "I am because you are". However, he pointed out a glaring tension: while the policy is progressive on paper, the practical reality is that much of Zimbabwe's data remains trapped in analog formats. Hlomani highlighted that before deploying advanced AI, there must be a massive drive toward digitization. Furthermore, he critiqued the strategy for not adequately addressing the exorbitant cost of internet access, noting that an uncapped connection costs around $120, effectively pricing out the average citizen and hindering true AI inclusivity.

Institutional Capacity and the Liability Gap: Digital Policy Expert Hlengiwe Dube, shifted the focus to the strategy's institutional framework. She praised the approach of not building completely new institutions, but rather upskilling existing government bodies to handle AI regulation. However, she raised critical concerns regarding the protection of citizens. Dube pointed out that the current strategy lacks clear mechanisms for liability, redress, and human override, which are essential for protecting individuals from AI-driven harms like deepfakes.

AI as a Pyramid Scheme and Digital Colonialism: The most provocative perspective came from Adio-Adet Dinika, an AI Researcher at DAIR. He challenged the fundamental narrative of the technology, stating: "AI is neither artificial nor intelligent; it is a pyramid scheme of resources and exploited people". Dinika emphasized that a nation of 16 million people must seriously consider whether it has the resources to build foundational models alone, or if regional cooperation with neighboring countries is necessary to compete against tech monopolies. He also warned against the erasure of local nuances, citing an example of an AI newsreader deployed in Zimbabwe that was unable to correctly pronounce basic Ndebele words.

The Path Forward: Zimbabwe’s strategy is a vital first step, but the consensus from our panel is clear: policy must be matched by infrastructural investment, regional collaboration, and robust protections for digital rights.

Lawyers Hub hosts these vital tech policy discussions focusing on different African nations every Monday. Do not miss out on the conversation.

Watch the full recording of the Zimbabwe AI Strategy dialogue below.