Sam George, Ghana’s Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, revealed that the government is building a national data exchange hub to link 48 data registries across public institutions. The move is part of a broader strategy to weave artificial intelligence into public administration and make planning evidence‑driven.
Speaking ahead of the second episode of the Digital Economy Forum, Mr. George said the hub would enable agencies to share and analyse information across sectors. “The finance minister should be able to write a budget that is not driven by sentiments and political rhetoric, but that is driven by hardcore data at the click of a button,” he explained.
The minister warned that development decisions are often swayed by political promises or community demands that lack a data basis. Using a hypothetical example, he noted a community might ask for a road while health data shows maternal mortality is 12 percent above the national average. “If you took the data sets that were being generated from different registries, for example, the health sector, you’d realise that maternal mortality in that community was 12 % higher than the national average,” he said. “It then meant that the real concern and need of that community, even though they may need a road, the primary thing that will make the lives of those people better would have been a maternity ward or a hospital in there.”
Mr. George highlighted that the fragmented nature of current data makes comprehensive analysis difficult. The proposed hub will interconnect registries, allowing data from health, agriculture, education and other sectors to be brought together for decision‑making. It will operate alongside a national AI compute centre, for which the ministry has earmarked US$250 million for the first phase. The centre will provide the computing power needed to process large volumes of information and identify patterns that inform policy.
Beyond planning, the minister said the wider adoption of AI and integrated digital systems could simplify how citizens access government services. He cited efforts to standardise forms and improve electronic service delivery as part of the ministry’s digital transformation agenda.
While no launch date or cost estimate for the data hub was disclosed, Mr. George said the ultimate goal is a public administration system that understands citizens’ needs and responds with reliable information. “A harmonised system that works for the benefit of the Ghanaian people,” he said. “I want to leave this ministry with a legacy that we’ve left a digitally inclusive and data‑driven economy.”
