By Stephen Asante
Accra, June 08, GNA – Mr Ace Anan Ankomah, a Ghanaian legal luminary, has urged Africa’s leadership to seek technological sovereignty rooted in ethical frameworks to shape her future for the better.
He said the continent could not continue to remain a passive user of technological systems designed elsewhere, which tended to be biased towards the philosophies and aspirations of the people.
He was delivering a paper on: ‘Cultivating Ethical Leadership for an AI-Driven Future: A Collective Pan-African Obligation’, at the 2026 Commencement Address of the SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College, Tema, in the Greater Accra Region.
Mr Ankomah explained that Africa possessed something the world urgently needed, and highlighted the deep tradition of community, shared responsibility, and human-centred thinking.
“Africa needs coders, but conscientious coders. Engineers, but ethical engineers. Entrepreneurs, but principled entrepreneurs.
“Above all, Africa needs brilliant people who are also good people. For in this world, the greatest danger may not be the machines becoming human, but humans becoming machine-like. Efficient but unfeeling, connected but isolated, informed but not wise.”
Mr Ankomah noted that for too long, the continent had entered into a vicious state as a consumer, rather than a creator.
“Today, however, AI has a rare opportunity for Africa, not merely to participate in a new technological opportunity, but to develop and shape it,” he emphasised.
“The challenge is even greater for Africa. Imagine healthcare systems that do not recognise African genetic diversity, financial systems that unintentionally exclude African communities, especially our women, or language technologies that sideline indigenous African languages,” he noted.
“Imagine Artificial Intelligence (AI) making decisions about African realities without understanding Africa. These are not merely a technological problem. It is a moral one.”
Mr Ankomah said hidden biases in AI, could discriminate against vulnerable groups.
“We already see the warning signs,” he noted.
Mr Ankomah also cautioned that development trends indicated that the future of AI systems might eventually be able to improve themselves rapidly, creating risks that humans would struggle to control.
“No machine can replace human character. Technology may undermine intelligence, but it cannot be with stock or conscience.”
The AI era, therefore, demanded more than technical excellence, he emphasised, explaining that ethical leadership was an imperative.
He, therefore, recommended that education should aim at more than technical competence.
The Commencement Address was paired with the 2026 Graduation Ceremony of the SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College.
The Address was to inspire and motivate graduates to become ethical leaders capable of shaping Africa’s role in a rapidly changing world.
GNA