During the second round of Governors’ interventions at the 2026 African Caucus Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, Dr Johnson Asiama, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, urged African nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to take urgent steps to strengthen the continent’s digital capabilities. Speaking on Wednesday, October 14, he highlighted gaps in regulatory capacity, cybersecurity, infrastructure and financing that could leave Africa further behind in the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
“AI is already reshaping productivity, competitiveness, governance, and finance,” Dr Asiama said, noting Africa’s progress in digital payments, digital identification systems, AI‑enabled financial services and fintech. However, he warned that persistent gaps in regulatory capacity, cybersecurity, infrastructure and financing continue to constrain the safe and inclusive use of these technologies.
He stressed that without urgent and coordinated action, the continent risks falling even further behind. A stronger partnership between African countries and the IMF, he said, is essential to enable the continent to benefit fully from emerging technologies.
Dr Asiama called on the Fund to scale up tailored capacity‑development support to help African countries strengthen AI governance, supervisory technology, cybersecurity and digital risk‑management systems. He also urged the IMF to support a stronger African voice in shaping global digital norms and standards.
According to him, Africa must be equipped not only to adopt AI but also to adapt, govern and innovate with the technology to advance its development priorities. Such support would be critical to building economic resilience, improving productivity and promoting inclusive growth across the continent.
The Governor further urged the IMF to strengthen its analytical work on the intersection of AI, digital transformation and macro‑financial stability. He advocated for the integration of AI‑related considerations into the Fund’s economic surveillance activities and Financial Sector Assessment Programs (FSAPs). He also urged the Fund to deepen its analysis of AI’s implications for productivity, employment, financial resilience and inclusive growth, while promoting greater policy coherence in data governance, digital trade and cross‑border AI regulation.
On financing, Dr Asiama stressed the need to mobilise affordable resources for secure digital public infrastructure and initiatives aimed at narrowing the digital divide. He described such investments as critical to ensuring that African countries could participate meaningfully in the global digital economy and harness AI for sustainable development.
His intervention, delivered under the theme “Africa’s Digital Sovereignty and AI for Structural Transformation: Advancing Capabilities and Deepening the Fund’s Support”, underscored the need for stronger international cooperation, effective regulation and sustainable investment to ensure that AI and digital transformation deliver broad‑based economic benefits for Africa.
Moving forward, the Bank of Ghana and the IMF will likely explore joint initiatives to address these gaps, with a focus on capacity building, regulatory frameworks and financing mechanisms to support AI adoption across the continent.
