No AI Without Digitalisation: Bawumia Issues 6-Point Wake-Up Call to Africa | Discuss Ghana

On Saturday, March 28, 2026, former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia delivered a high-stakes keynote address at the LSE Africa Summit 2026 in London. Speaking on the theme "Artificial Intelligence and Uniting Borders," he warned that Africa risks being "left behind once again" if it fails to move beyond being a passive consumer of AI.

Bawumia argued that while AI is the "new phase of the digital age," it cannot exist in a vacuum. His core message was simple: "There can be no AI without digitalisation".

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The "Six-Point Policy Blueprint" for AI

To ensure Africa becomes a global contributor rather than just a buyer, Bawumia proposed six "concrete policy commitments":

Build AI Foundations: Immediate investment in reliable electricity, high-speed broadband, and secure data infrastructure.

Trustworthy Data Ecosystems: Creating high-quality, representative African data so AI reflects African realities and languages.

Talent at Scale: Reforming education systems and technical training to build a workforce that meets real labor-market needs.

Procurement Capacity: Moving governments beyond "small pilots" to responsible, large-scale deployment with proper audits.

Ethics in Practice: Embedding transparency, human oversight, and impact assessments into high-stakes AI systems.

Cross-Border Scale: Using continental instruments to harmonize rules and make African markets interoperable for digital trade.

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Digitalisation as the "Necessity for Survival"

Bawumia used data to show that the countries most prepared for AI—such as Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and Rwanda—are those that have invested most in digital infrastructure:

Infrastructure Gap: He noted that internet use in Africa is only 43%, while electricity access averages 60%—both of which are "non-negotiable" for AI.

The "Small AI" Opportunity: He highlighted the rise of "small AI"—affordable apps that run on mobile phones—as a way for Africa to solve problems in health and agriculture even before infrastructure is perfect.

Data Cost Barrier: He warned that high data costs remain a "significant barrier," with entry-level broadband prices in 2025 still above the UN's affordability threshold for many.

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Snapshot: Africa's AI Readiness (Oxford Insights 2024)

Country	AI Readiness Score (out of 100)
South Africa	52.91.
Rwanda	51.25.
Kenya	43.56.
Ghana	43.30.

"Africa is poised to shape the global AI conversation not as a passive consumer, but as a builder of responsible systems that reflect our values, our languages, and our development priorities." — Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, March 28, 2026.