Ghana has sealed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of $ 1 billion with the United Arab Emirates to establish a cutting-edge technology and innovation center in Ningo-Prampram, Accra, preparing the field for what is ready to become the largest digital transformation base in Africa.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Ghana of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, President of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) of Dubai. The water should finance the center entirely, while Ghana will provide the land – 25 square kilometers in Ningo -Prampram – for the first development phase.
Minister Samuel George described the agreement as the culmination of three months of behind the scenes and a major stage in the Ghana’s ambition to direct the digital future of Africa.
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“This partnership is about the vision of He John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, and the potential that the one million codes program has for Ghanaians,” said George.
He described the initiative as a launch of technology giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, IBM and Alphabet to install an African seat in Ghana, as well as more than 11,000 companies under the aegis of the PCFC.
The center will serve as the basis for AI engineering, the outsourcing of business processes (BPO), the outsourcing of knowledge processes (KPO) and the generation of automatic learning data adapted to African needs. George noted that he will strengthen the program of one million government coders, which aims to train young Ghanaians in fields such as AI, cybersecurity, data protection and digital governance.
“To the dynamic community of technological entrepreneurs in Ghana, innovators and digital talents, it’s your platform,” said George. “We create the conditions for a digital renaissance, led by Ghanaians for Ghanaians. Our goal is not to catch up with the digital era, but to help it shape it. ”
The long -term bet of water on digital Africa
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem stressed that in today’s world, wealth is increasingly defined by intellectual capacity rather than natural resources.
“National wealth is defined not by gold or petroleum, but by the ability to generate, implement and put ideas on the scale,” he said, citing Apple’s transformation of a simple idea into a company of billions of dollars.
Inspired by the automated port of DP World in Rotterdam, Sulayem argued that digital transformation does not eliminate jobs but does not redefine them.
“Jobs are being transformed. Workers are now managing smarter processes and customer relations, “he said.
He also noted that when global supply chains change, Ghana is well placed to become a leading production and distribution center in West Africa.
A new front in the technological race in Africa
The Ghana-Uae agreement places Ghana in direct competition with Nigeria, which has advanced its own artificial intelligence (IA) and its technological ambitions. Nigeria launched its national artificial intelligence strategy in April, focusing on infrastructure, ethical adoption and economic development. He also established the Nigerian collective of artificial intelligence (NAIC) to coordinate the implementation of the strategy.
The main actors responded. Google has promised 2.8 billion nairas to develop AI talents across Nigeria and previously hired 100 million nairas in Nigeria National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). Microsoft, for its part, announced an investment of $ 1 million to equip a million Nigerians with AI skills.
Despite these initiatives, experts warn that a large part of Africa is not prepared to fully exploit the AI revolution. Critical infrastructure challenges – such as erratic electricity supply, poor -band access and low digital political frameworks – continue to slow down adoption and investment.
However, the scrambling of Africa for digital domination is intensifying. While Nigeria’s thrust is focused on AI and capacity building, the $ 1 billion project in Ghana in partnership with Dubai gives a wider tone: establishing not only local talent pipelines, but creating a continental base for world technology giants.
Ghana’s strategy, rooted in infrastructure and public-private collaboration, should offer a more holistic plan, mixing foreign investments, innovation ecosystems and skills development. The involvement of water adds credibility and muscles, potentially transforming Ghana into a critical knot in world digital supply chains.
In the words of the Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, “it is no longer a question of building technological parks; It is a question of reshaping the nations through technology. ”
However, experts note that, as the two technological powers of Africa track the parallel paths, the success of these ambitious plans will depend not only billions of facilities, but also on the capacity to overcome local structural challenges, to attract long -term investments and to create inclusive digital economies that serve their populations.
