A French-funded artificial intelligence (AI) initiative at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has, in just twelve months, produced working tools that diagnose crop diseases in the field, predict transformer failures on the national grid and remove toxic metals from water bodies contaminated by illegal mining, marking one of the fastest applied AI research-to-deployment cycles in West Africa’s academic history.
The Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development (AI4SD) project, funded by the French Embassy in Ghana and implemented by KNUST, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), Université Paris-Saclay and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), marked its first anniversary in Accra this week, showcasing innovations spanning agriculture, health, energy, clean water, education and illegal mining detection.
In agriculture, KNUST’s Responsible AI Lab (RAIL) has developed a crop disease detection toolbox that analyses the colour and visible damage of a crop leaf to diagnose the specific disease, providing smallholder farmers with a low-cost diagnostic alternative to expensive agronomist visits. An indigenous smart weather application offering localised climate data is also in development. In energy, solutions co-created with the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) can predict damage to transformers and machinery before failures occur, enabling preemptive maintenance that could significantly reduce power outages.
At the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, satellite imagery and AI models are being deployed to help farmers monitor crops and manage drought conditions in northern Ghana and the Bono East region, while an AI-equipped laboratory has been established to provide evidence-based research for government ministries.
The project has also advanced accessibility technology for persons with disabilities, including a Sign Talk application designed to enable communication between hearing-impaired patients and healthcare providers, as well as obstacle detection systems retrofitted onto wheelchairs.
On the education front, AI and robotics clubs have now been established in 22 secondary schools across Ghana, each equipped with Arduino and LEGO robotics kits and laptops. The maiden AI4SD Robotics Challenge in October 2025 brought together 14 of those schools in a national competition at KNUST’s Great Hall. The SheCodes programme, running at Takoradi Technical University and Kumasi Technical University, targets the gender gap in technology by supporting women in building AI skills.
KNUST Vice-Chancellor Professor Rita Akosua Dickson used the anniversary to call on funders to commit to a second project phase, warning that the four years remaining before the 2030 deadline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) demand sustained rather than time-limited investment. “We are not looking for a closure, but for the project to be a stepping stone,” she said.
French Ambassador Diarra Dimé-Labille described the initiative as proof that AI is not primarily a technological question but a social and human development one, adding that Ghana’s thriving AI ecosystem positions it to lead the continent’s digital transition with the right long-term partnerships in place.
