In May 2025, Ghana launched its National AI Strategy—a landmark policy document signaling the country’s commitment to AI-driven transformation. The strategy outlines broad goals, from boosting AI research to deploying smart systems in agriculture, education, and healthcare.
However, one glaring omission stands out: the voices of ordinary Ghanaians.
At Veebeckz Tech Hub, we reviewed the document in detail. While it includes technical and economic ambitions, it barely addresses digital inclusion, data equity, or social accountability. There is little mention of how AI will affect women, persons with disabilities, rural populations, or even frontline health workers. These are the very people who stand to be most impacted by AI policies.
AI cannot be truly transformative if it’s designed by elites and implemented without consultation. Innovation should be rooted in lived realities. If an AI system fails to diagnose a rural woman accurately because it was trained on urban male data, that’s not innovation—it’s exclusion.
We call for a people-first AI roadmap that includes participatory policymaking, local data governance, and independent oversight. Ghana’s future with AI must be equitable, not just efficient.