Effective policies essential to unlock AI potential

By Deborah Asantewaah SARFO

The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, has underscored effective policies in emerging countries as a significant factor in harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mitigating its associated risk.

According to him, for countries under this category – including Ghana, such policies must also lay a strong foundation to ensure that citizens embrace AI-related initiatives.

“To harness the full potential of AI while mitigating its risks, it is important to focus on implementing policies that would lay a solid foundation for effective adoption of AI solutions,” he said.

He made this assertion during his keynote address at the 2nd Emerging Countries International Conference on Business, Finance and Economics under the theme ‘The Intersection between AI, Productivity and Growth in Emerging Countries’.

A recent study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicates that AI exposure in advanced economies is 60 percent, while emerging markets and low-income countries are expected to be 40 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

Additionally, he maintains that setting priorities is equally important for emerging countries to fully maximise the potential of AI.

Mr. Opoku-Afari further suggested the need for investment in digital infrastructure, enhancing human capital, fostering local innovation, establishing regulatory frameworks and others as some of the policies emerging countries can implement to realise the full benefit of AI.

Turning his attention to how AI is revolutionising productivity and driving growth across all the sectors of the economy, he stressed that AI is already shaping the future and “it is a catalyst for systemic transformation”.

To augment his perception of AI as a transformative agent, he highlighted several start-ups and large businesses across the country that are shaping the sectors of the economy with their adoption of AI solutions.

“In Ghana, for example, the introduction of AI-enabled digital banking services is being harnessed to simplify credit scoring, allowing SMEs to access much-needed financing. Start-ups like Farmerline use AI-powered platforms to provide farmers with weather forecasts, market prices and access to funding,’’ he said.

At the BOG, he said the AI has been employed to help with forecasting and generate near-term forecasts, adding that their AI-generated inflation provides real-time inflation numbers.

Despite these success stories of AI in emerging countries, he stressed that some challenges exist and require a lot of measures, but are not limited to digital divide, ethical and regulatory concerns, tackling energy-related infrastructure gaps and capacity building.

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