Ghana among top emerging markets ready for AI adoption, says IMF Report

A new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that Ghana is among the emerging market economies most prepared to adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On Tuesday, the IMF released its AI Preparedness Index (AIPI), which maps the world's readiness for AI and evaluates the level of AI preparedness in 174 countries.

The AIPI Dashboard tracks these economies based on their digital infrastructure, human capital, labour policies, innovation, integration, and regulation, the financial agency said in a statement.

Each aggregate dimension (digital infrastructure, human capital and labour market policies, digital innovation and economic integration, regulation and ethics) is the simple average of its normalized subcomponents. The AI Preparedness Index is then derived as the simple average of the four aggregate dimensions on a scale of 0 to 1.

The index is computed for 32 advanced economies, 56 emerging market economies, and 37 low-income countries.

Ghana, with a score of 0.43, placed third on the list of emerging market economies behind Kenya (0.45) and Rwanda (0.44).

South Africa, listed as an advanced economy, was noted as the most prepared African country to adopt AI with an index score of 0.5.

Nigeria was among the list of unprepared countries with an index score of 0.34, despite recently unveiling its AI strategy and launching its first Multilingual Large Language Model (LLM) in April.

The IMF report noted that while AI can increase productivity, boost economic growth, and raise incomes, it could also wipe out millions of jobs and widen inequality.

The IMF's research in January showed that AI could endanger 33% of jobs in advanced economies, 24% in emerging economies, and 18% in low-income countries.

"But, on the brighter side, it also brings enormous potential to enhance the productivity of existing jobs for which AI can be a complementary tool and to create new jobs and even new industries," the statement said.

The financial agency mentioned that wealthier economies tend to be better equipped for AI adoption compared to low-income countries.

"Most emerging market economies and low-income countries have smaller shares of high-skilled jobs than advanced economies, and so will likely be less affected and face fewer immediate disruptions from AI," it stated.

"At the same time, many of these countries lack the infrastructure or skilled workforces needed to harness AI’s benefits, which could worsen inequality among nations," it added.