Ghana Stands To Benefit From A Projected $1.6 Billion AI Boost To The Economy

Ghana has identified a $1.66 billion Artificial Intelligence (AI) related economic boost following a major new study of youth AI readiness that ranked the country 17th out of 56 Commonwealth countries, and finished just 1.8 points short of a benchmark reached by only 15 nations, the Commonwealth Youth AI Readiness Index has said.

The study confirms the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) calculation that AI use in Ghana’s economy, could increase the level of the country’s GDP by $1.656 billion after ten years under the moderate scenario if the country grasps the opportunities AI brings. The figure rises to $2.513 billion in the optimistic case and falls to $799 million under the conservative scenario.

Founded by Antiguan-Canadian philanthropist, Calvin Ayre, the Ayre Think Thank, the organisation behind the Youth AI Readiness Index, gave Ghana a score of 51.2 out of 100 against the study-defined readiness benchmark of 53. The result reflects strong digital connectivity and promising examples of AI use among university students, alongside gaps in conventional digital skills.

In its inaugural White Paper, the Ayre Think Thank, said it assessed the conditions that may help people aged 15 to 29 benefit from AI in all 56 Commonwealth countries. It said researchers reviewed 1,128 sources, including official statistics, international databases, surveys and published studies.

The framework for the study comprised eight pillars, 39 sub-pillars and 111 indicators, covering access to technology, digital capability, AI use, education, employment and enterprise, rights and safeguards, confidence and the ability to question AI. Comparable evidence was insufficient to score the eighth pillar, critical judgement and human agency. The published rankings therefore use 102 indicators across seven pillars.

Each usable indicator is scored from 0 to 10 under a common set of predefined rules. Scores were averaged into sub-pillars and then pillars, which have equal weight in the overall score out of 100. Countries were scored on the four to seven pillars for which they have usable information. Indicator scoring used an AI model following a fixed rubric, with scores checked against the scoring bands; second scoring produced the same result in 1,848 of 1,854 cases. The underlying data and calculation code were published alongside the Index, allowing the scores to be independently reproduced.

According to the Think Tank, a study-defined benchmark of 53 out of 100 was selected after six statistical methods were used to examine the distribution of scores and comparisons with established measures of AI preparedness. Fifteen countries reached or exceeded this benchmark while 41 fell below it. The benchmark was a comparative research measure, not an IMF threshold or a guarantee of economic gains.

To illustrate the potential economic scale of AI, the Ayre Think Tank applied the International Monetary Fund’s low and high ten-year GDP-level effects for broad economic groups to World Bank national GDP figures for 2025 (2024 for The Bahamas). The moderate scenario is the midpoint of the low and high estimates, calculated by the researchers.

The figures describe possible effects on the level of GDP after ten years, not annual increases, accumulated gains over a decade, country-specific forecasts or the additional GDP that crossing the Index benchmark would cause. The estimates concern whole economies and do not calculate how much young people would receive.

One of the more encouraging findings by the Think Tank showed how some young Ghanaians are already using AI. In an international survey of university students aged 18 to 29 who already used ChatGPT, 65.5% of Ghanaian respondents reported using it at least sometimes for creative writing, while 66.4% used it for help with computer programming.

These were the highest proportions recorded among the Commonwealth countries covered by the respective student-survey comparisons. The findings show substantial interest among the students surveyed, although the sample cannot establish how widely these activities are undertaken by Ghana’s wider youth population.

The findings show that Ghana has a strong digital foundation, with 4G networks currently reaching 99.3% of the population, while 80.7% of young people reported using the internet in the latest census. The selected curriculums measure records computing as mandatory in primary and secondary schools. Yet Ghana scores just 1.6 out of 10 for digital, data, media and AI capability, largely on the basis of the most recently available household observations.

The student survey also found caution about the reliability of AI in the country. Just 47% of the Ghanaian respondents agreed that ChatGPT could provide reliable information, compared with 71.8% in The Gambia, the lowest share among the ten Commonwealth countries covered by that comparison outside the United Kingdom. The potential economic implications are nevertheless substantial for Ghana, which has approximately 9.3 million young people aged 15 to 29.

Calvin Ayre, founder of the Ayre Think Tank, said “I’ve spent my life in businesses where new technology changes everything, and I know you can’t stand still. AI is going to change how we work, how we do business and how wealth is created. But this is not a race that only the biggest or richest countries can win.”