Accra: Ghana marked a significant milestone in its technology and national development agenda on Wednesday, when the government and international partners jointly launched three high-impact projects.
According to Ghana News Agency, the development partners-the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Government of Japan-are supporting the projects, including artificial intelligence (AI), public health, and peace-building.
The initiatives are receiving approximately US$1.5 million under Japan's 2025 fiscal year Supplementary Budget, aimed at harnessing AI to improve health outcomes and drive public sector digital transformation and advancing peace-building efforts at Bawku in the Upper East Region. Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose outfit hosted the programme, said the interventions aligned with Ghana's national priorities in conflict resolution, digital governance, and universal health coverage.
Mr Samuel Nartey George, the Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, highlighted AI's potential of contributing US$19.9 trillion to the global economy by 2030, saying Ghana was determined to tap into the benefits therein. He announced that Cabinet had approved a national AI strategy, to be launched by President John Dramani Mahama on April 24, to provide a policy architecture within which both the public sector AI capacity building project and the health AI programme would be situated.
Mr Niloy Banerjee, UNDP Ghana Resident Representative, said three initiatives touched on 13 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), showing how the convergence of political will, multilateral resources, and technical ambition could provide transformative and integrated solutions. He emphasised the principle of 'leaving no one behind' as a guide in the implementation process, with meaningful participation from women, youth, and all vulnerable groups.
Mr Yoshimoto Hiroshi, Japan's Ambassador to Ghana, noted that the joint governmental and stakeholder initiatives reaffirmed the partnership with Ghana, built on seventy years of cooperation that would continue. He said all three projects, while addressing different dimensions of development, were united by a common thread within Japan's long-standing commitment to human security, 'ensuring both freedom from fear and freedom from want.'
Dr Fiona Braka, the WHO Representative, described Ghana as standing at a defining moment in its digital transformation journey, marked by rapid expansion of AI and digital technologies. She said such development offered unprecedented opportunities to strengthen health systems, improve decision-making, anticipate health threats, and reach communities that had traditionally been left behind.