Sir Sam Jonah
The Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Sir Sam Jonah, says Africa risks becoming a mere consumer of imported artificial intelligence (AI) technologies if it fails to develop its own digital technologies to address the challenges facing the continent.
Speaking at the Methodist University International Conference 2026, he said Africa could repeat its historical experience with gold by exporting raw materials and importing finished products if it failed to take control of its digital resources.
He, therefore, urged African leaders, especially the universities, to train more people to develop software and other digital technologies like other advanced countries that have made significant progress in building technical expertise rather than merely using existing applications.
“There is a real danger that Africa becomes only a consumer of these technologies and never a creator. We shipped the raw ore and brought back the finished goods. I pray we don’t do this again with data,” he said.
He also urged African entrepreneurs and technology developers to focus on solving local problems in agriculture, healthcare, logistics, energy, and finance among others instead of replicating solutions developed in countries such as the UK and the US.
He further called for a change in attitudes towards entrepreneurship, stressing the need for African countries to produce more people who can create jobs rather than depending on jobs that could be provided by the government.
“Ladies and gentlemen, a nation of job seekers will always be poor. We need a nation of job creators. First, build, do not just buy. Our universities must produce people who can write code, not just use the app,” he stated.
Mr. Jonah also cited the development of mobile money as evidence of Africa’s capacity to innovate, noting that the technology emerged from the need to address the financial challenges of people who had mobile phones but lacked access to bank accounts.
He said Ghana was among the early adopters of interoperable mobile money platforms, which served as a practical African innovation designed to meet the needs of ordinary people.
Apart from digital innovation, he emphasised the importance of sustainability, ethical leadership and inclusion in Africa’s development, warning that technological advancement would deepen existing inequalities if its benefits were limited to people with access to electricity, the internet and digital devices.
He, therefore, urged governments, businesses and universities to ensure that digital policies and platforms expanded access to education, finance, technology and economic opportunities, particularly for underserved communities.
Mr. Jonah also called for the responsible use of digital technologies to strengthen transparency and environmental protection, stating that satellite data serves as a tool for tracking illegal mining and digital public procurement system, which eventually improves accountability.
He said Africa had young people, resources and ideas needed to support its development but lacked the right habits to turn its potential into progress.
Present at the two-day event held under the theme “Excellence, Morality and Service at 25: Advancing Digital Innovation, Equity and Sustainability in a Transforming World” include the Vice Chancellor of the Methodist University, Prof. William Baah Boateng, some dignitaries of state and students.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah