Ghana is targeting the completion of the first phase of a national computing facility within the next 24 months to provide researchers, universities and industry players with access to the computing capacity needed to advance artificial intelligence (AI) development.
The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr Samuel Nartey George, said the government was currently undertaking procurement processes with the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to acquire the data centre infrastructure and related equipment for the project.
He said the facility would help reduce the reliance of Ghanaian researchers and businesses on computing services purchased from providers outside the country.
Speaking at the JoyNews Digital Economy Forum on AI and the Ghana Economy on Wednesday, October 21, Mr George described the planned facility as an important first step in building the country’s capacity to develop and deploy AI technologies.
“We are currently going through procurement with PPA on getting a data centre, the computer infrastructure and all the various parts of it put together. 24 months from now, we should have phase one completed with serious computing infrastructure that we can then give to our researchers, our industry and our universities who are currently buying tokens outside the country and buying capacity outside the country,” he said.
The proposed facility is expected to provide computing resources for institutions and businesses working with AI, which often requires substantial processing power to train models, run applications and analyse large volumes of data.
Mr George said the project formed part of the foundational work needed to position Ghana for greater participation in the rapidly developing AI economy.
‘A long journey’
The minister cautioned against expecting the country to address all its AI infrastructure and development needs within the remaining period of the Mahama administration.
He said establishing the computing facility would be an initial milestone rather than a complete solution to the country’s AI ambitions.
His comments highlight the scale of the task facing Ghana as it seeks to build the infrastructure, skills and institutional capacity required to benefit from AI.
Access to computing power is one of the requirements for AI research and commercial development. However, the impact of the proposed facility will also depend on its capacity, affordability, reliability and accessibility to researchers, universities and businesses.
The government’s 24-month target sets out a timeline for the first phase, while the minister’s remarks indicate that further investment and sustained policy implementation will be needed to meet the country’s broader AI ambitions.