Ghana’s President has called for a cautious, responsible and Africa-centred approach to the development and regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in sensitive sectors such as healthcare.

The President warned that while AI has enormous potential to transform healthcare delivery, diagnostic services and medical research, its benefits could be undermined if systems are developed using data that does not adequately represent African populations.

He highlighted the example of an AI system designed to assist in detecting breast cancer, raising concerns over the extent to which systems trained predominantly on medical data involving Caucasian women can accurately serve African patients.

According to the President, differences in patient populations and biological characteristics could potentially influence the performance of AI-powered diagnostic tools. This, he argued, demonstrates why African countries must play a greater role in producing medical datasets, conducting research and evaluating technologies before they are deployed across the continent.

The warning reflects a broader concern about the risks of importing technologies developed elsewhere without sufficiently testing whether they are appropriate for African societies.

Who Is Responsible When AI Makes a Medical Mistake?

The President also raised a fundamental question surrounding accountability.

As AI becomes increasingly involved in medical decision-making, questions remain over who should bear responsibility when an algorithm contributes to an incorrect or harmful diagnosis.

If a doctor relies on an AI recommendation that turns out to be wrong, responsibility could potentially involve the healthcare professional, the technology developer, the institution deploying the system or other parties involved in its implementation.

For the President, AI should therefore remain a tool that assists medical professionals rather than a replacement for professional expertise and human responsibility.

“AI must support, not displace, professional judgement and human responsibility.”

The principle is particularly important in healthcare, where decisions can have immediate and potentially life-changing consequences for patients.

Protecting Africa’s Health Data

Another major concern raised by the President is the protection of health information.

AI systems require large amounts of data to develop, train and improve their performance. Medical records, diagnostic images, genetic information and other forms of patient data can be extremely valuable for research, but they also carry significant privacy and security risks.

The President questioned how African countries can ensure that sensitive health information belonging to their citizens is protected from misuse.

The issue is becoming increasingly important as governments, hospitals, universities and private technology companies expand the use of digital health systems across the continent.

Without strong safeguards, African countries risk becoming sources of valuable health data while having limited control over how that information is stored, processed, commercialised or transferred outside the continent.

Africa Must Help Set the Rules

The President argued that Africa should not merely become a consumer of artificial intelligence technologies developed elsewhere.

Instead, African countries should participate directly in establishing standards, generating evidence and developing AI systems that reflect the continent’s populations, languages, healthcare environments and social realities.

Such an approach would require greater investment in African research institutions, medical datasets, technology infrastructure and AI expertise.

It would also require stronger cooperation between governments, universities, hospitals, technology companies and researchers across African countries.

For Ghana and the wider continent, the challenge is therefore not simply whether Africa should embrace AI. The more important question is whether Africans will have a meaningful role in determining how these technologies are designed, tested, regulated and used.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in healthcare and other critical sectors, the President’s message is clear: technological progress must be accompanied by accountability, representation, privacy protections and human oversight.

Africa should not simply inherit the artificial intelligence systems of the future. It should have a hand in building them.

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