Africa must create AI technology instead of paying to use it – Sam Jonah

MyJoyOnline · 2026-10-15T09:53:41.000Z · Technology

Business leader Sir Sam Jonah has warned that Africa risks becoming a mere consumer of artificial intelligence and other digital technologies unless it invests in the skills and capacity needed to develop its own solutions. He said the continent must avoid a situation in which it imports technology, exports its data and pays foreign companies to access the resulting products and services. Delivering the keynote address at Methodist University Ghana’s international conference in Accra on Thursday, October 15, Sir Sam said Africa must learn from its history of exporting raw materials while buying back finished products. “We must not do it again with data,” he said, referring to the risk of repeating that pattern in the digital economy. The conference was held as the university marked its 25th anniversary under the theme “Excellence, Morality, and Service at 25: Advancing Digital Innovation, Equity, and Sustainability in a Transforming World”.

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