Ghana’s AI leap: Leveraging 50 years of Korea-Ghana relationship for the National AI Strategy

On Friday, April 24, President John Dramani Mahama launched the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in Accra, marking the beginning of our AI revolution, and positioning the country as a leader in AI innovation within the West African bloc and beyond.This milestone is toward positioning ourselves to advance and enhance our vision of a robust digital … The post Ghana’s AI leap: Leveraging 50 years of Korea-Ghana relationship for the National AI Strategy appeared first on Ghanaian Times.

May 13, 2026 - 07:48

Ghana’s AI leap: Leveraging 50 years of Korea-Ghana relationship for the National AI Strategy

On Friday, April 24, President John Dramani Mahama launched the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in Accra, marking the beginning of our AI revolution, and positioning the country as a leader in AI innovation within the West African bloc and beyond.

This milestone is toward positioning ourselves to advance and enhance our vision of a robust digital economy. The President stated that, we must move beyond passive consumption of emerging technology to actively engaging in its development and deployment.

At the ceremony, 270 million dollars was earmarked for the execution of this strategy. This investment package is aimed at building the infrastructure needed to support Ghana’s AI ambition.

Of this amount, $250 million has been earmarked for the establishment of a national artificial intelligence computing centre, with an additional $20 million allocated to fund the short-to medium-term implementation of the strategy.

President Mahama said the proposed facility would serve as a hub for research, innovation, and enterprise development, enabling local talent to create solutions with relevance beyond Ghana’s borders.

During President Mahama’s five-day state visit to South Korea from March 10-14, 2026, the governments of Ghana and Korea signed three MoUs to strengthen their cooperation in climate change areas, maritime security, and technology, digital, and innovation development cooperation

Furthermore, through the memorandum of understanding on technology, digital, and innovation development cooperation, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in vocational skills training for nurturing young talent, education in artificial intelligence, AI, and STEM, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and improving digital accessibility.

South Korea is a leading player in AI development globally. With an estimated investment package amounting to billions of dollars, Korea is positioning itself to be the leading global AI powerhouse. In 2025, Korea was ranked 3rd for its notable AI models in the world. These innovations reflect in Korea’s productivity and the advanced Korean society we are witnessing.

The government has launched a $735 billion sovereign AI initiative through 2027, which includes roughly $185 billion in R&D and $300 billion in infrastructure to build AI models based on the Korean language and data.

The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) is investing 750 billion won ($502.8 million) over 2026–2027 to commercialise AI-enabled products, aiming to accelerate the adoption of domestic AI technologies.

The 2026 budget proposal focuses on turning South Korea into a top-three global AI powerhouse, allocating substantial funds to secure 15,000 advanced GPUs (graphics processing units) and train 11,000 specialists.

The key focus of this budget allocation is to commercialise AI-enabled products, healthcare, shipbuilding, robotics, automotive etc.

At a recent meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul, between President Lee Jae Myung and Demis Hadsabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, it was announced that Google will open an artificial intelligence (AI) campus in Korea within this year in line with the Korean government’s expanded cooperation with global AI companies. The envisioned campus is anticipated to facilitate Google’s cooperation with startups and researchers in Korea as Korea strives to become one of the top three AI powerhouses, alongside the United States and China. Google DeepMind is Google’s AI research lab.

During the unveiling of the National AI Strategy in Accra on Friday, April 24, the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Mr Samuel Nartey George, recognised the importance of collaboration across government, academia, and industry players as a key driver to the success of this framework. The minister further states how artificial intelligence is transforming sectors including agriculture, finance, healthcare, and education.

It is on this note that I am urging and suggesting to the Authority in charge of overseeing this initiative and the Ministry for Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovation to leverage the wonderful relationship we have with Korea to consider establishing an institutional partnership in this field to learn from and also work hand in hand to help execute this vision.

Ghana and Korea’s relationship spans a period of five decades. A diplomatic mission was established between the two countries in November 1977, 2027 would be the 50th anniversary of this relationship. The relations are growing strong centered on trade, investment, development, and technology.

The writer is a Freelance Journalist and social development advocate.
Email: billyslang@gmail.com