Ghana’s digital ambitions will stall at the infrastructure layer unless small businesses and everyday workers begin putting artificial intelligence (AI) tools to work, panellists on The High Street Journal’s X Space discussion said on Wednesday, February 18.
Speaking with technology blogger and researcher Mac-Jordan Elikem Degadjor and data analytics and AI expert Dr. Eugene Frimpong, the conversation drew a direct line between Ghana’s growing reputation as a potential West African data hub and the urgent need for practical AI adoption at the small and medium enterprise (SME) level.
Degadjor opened by flagging a shift already reshaping hiring across corporate Ghana. Companies are increasingly deploying Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), automated software that scans submitted CVs for keywords matching a job description, before a human recruiter sees a single application. He warned that qualified candidates are being filtered out simply because their documents are not written to match the language of a vacancy posting.
His advice to job seekers was direct: mirror the exact keywords from the job listing in your CV, and use AI tools to rehearse interviews. “Tell me about yourself could be a 15-second pitch,” he said, arguing that candidates who cannot distill their value quickly are often eliminated before the process truly begins.
The discussion then shifted to Ghana’s informal economy, where the majority of commercial activity takes place through social media pages and personal customer relationships rather than structured digital platforms. Degadjor said this segment has more to gain from AI than most people assume. A mechanic shop owner, for example, can use readily available AI tools to handle appointment bookings, send customer follow-up messages, and track which visitors to a business page are most likely to return and make a purchase, freeing the owner to focus entirely on the actual work.
Dr. Frimpong reinforced the point from a data perspective, noting that AI-powered analytics can help small businesses measure exactly how well their digital adverts are performing, cutting the cost of marketing guesswork and redirecting spending toward what actually converts.
Ghana is now West Africa’s largest retail colocation hub by total information technology capacity, and a broader infrastructure push is well underway. A $1 billion strategic partnership between Ghana and the United Arab Emirates aims to position Ghana as a regional technology powerhouse, combining artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and startup investment. However, both panellists argued that physical infrastructure alone cannot deliver economic transformation. The missing link is adoption at the ground level, in the markets, salons, logistics yards, and small offices where most Ghanaians earn their living.
Dr. Frimpong described the “data coast” concept as being fundamentally about converting data generation into productivity and exportable services. Ghana is producing more data than ever, he said, but the gap between that generation and real economic application, particularly at the SME level, remains wide and costly.
Together, the two panellists argued that marketing is the most accessible entry point for entrepreneurs with limited budgets, and that thousands of low-cost or free AI tools exist today to help small businesses compete more intelligently, regardless of size or sector.
