Accra, July 16, GNA – Mr Lacina Koné, Director‑General and Chief Executive Officer of Smart Africa, will speak at the Pan African AI Summit (PAAIS) 2026, scheduled for September 22 in Accra.
Event organisers, in a release copied to Ghana News Agency, confirmed his participation and highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in shaping Africa’s digital decade.
“His participation positions the Pan African AI & Innovation Summit 2026 as the gathering for continental AI policy and practical adoption.
“Welcoming Mr Koné to Accra connects delegates, innovators and investors in our halls directly to the agenda shaping AI policy across 40 African nations,” planners said.
Smart Africa is the African Union‑endorsed alliance of 40 member states committed to accelerating the continent’s digital transformation.
“Under Mr Koné’s leadership since 2019, the alliance has developed continental blueprints for digital identity, broadband, ICT start‑up ecosystems, and, most recently, a continental push to coordinate Africa’s approach to artificial intelligence, including the establishment of an Africa AI Council under the continent’s ICT ministers,” the statement noted.
Other speakers include Mr Samuel Nartey George, Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations; Darlington Akogo, Founder and CEO of minoHealth AI Labs; Dr G. Ayorkor Korsah of Ashesi University; and Mr Reuben Opata, Chief Technology Officer of MTN.
The rest are Prof John Jerry Kponyo of KNUST and Ghana AI Strategy Leader; and Mr Danny Manu, CEO of Mymanu, UK.
“Africa’s AI moment will not be decided in one capital city or one boardroom. It will be built through the kind of continental coordination that Smart Africa exists to deliver,” said Mr Felix Donkor, Summit Director and Convenor of PAAIS.
“Platforms like the Pan African AI Summit matter because they bring policy, enterprise and talent into the same room,” he said.
PAAIS 2026 follows the inaugural 2025 edition, which brought together 1,000 delegates from more than 30 countries.
The 2026 summit is expected to attract about 1,800 registered delegates and will feature ministerial dialogues, roundtables, an AI Hackathon pitch competition for start‑ups underwritten by the Estonian Business Angel Network, an AI Masterclass and related activities.
The summit is organised in partnership with the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, the University of Ghana Digital Youth Village, Brandeis University School for Global Development and Sustainability, the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment, and the Estonian Business Angel Network.
Smart Africa, launched in 2013 by seven African Heads of State, now comprises 31 countries, international organisations and private‑sector partners, with a vision to create a single digital market in Africa by 2030.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
16 July 2026
Reporter: Ernest Nutsugah