Niloy Banerjee, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ghana, has said he was blown away by Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam George’s intelligence.
According to Niloy Banerjee, during his first meeting with Sam George, he spoke at length about his vision for digital transformation, with the minister noting that AI must not create the new digital divide.
The UNDP Rep asserted that he was intimidated by Sam George’s knowledge during their first meeting.
Speaking at the launch of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy on Friday, April 24, Niloy Banerjee narrated, “Since I arrived in Ghana just before the 2024 elections in two months, as you formed your Cabinet, I started to pay a courtesy visit to various Ministers and ministries.
So I met this young, dynamic Minister who spoke at length about his vision for digital transformation, ethics, which has come up quite a bit, and fairness. Why should our people not have the full benefits of AI? He reminded me that AI must not create the new digital divide.
He told me about building a large language model in the languages of Ghana. He told me about the million coders program. I was blown away. I am not a tech person; I am an economist”.
He further added, “I was intimidated thinking about what the one intelligent thing I can say to this person, because he is so knowledgeable, so driven by his vision, and his passion. So I made some polite nosies a couple of months later, I got a call from him, saying we need to do a digital AI bootcamp.
I looked up Bootcamp, and off we went to the retreat where Minister Emelia Arthur you were the champion, and Mr Sam George led us. Not only did our Cabinet Minister participate, but I also became AI literate, and now I outsource all my intellectual work to AI”.
Niloy Banerjee further revealed Sam George’s plans to turn Ghana into a shining city on the Hill with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
He added, “One thing Minister Sam George said to me in our first meeting is that he wants to make Ghana the shining city on the hill in the digital and AI transformation. So today I say to you with this great moment, this time when the strategy has come to life, I know I will get another phone call from him, let take it to our people”, he revealed.
Ending his speech by quoting one of his favourite authors, Victor Hugo, he stated, “Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. Ghana, your time to be the shining city hill with AI is here”.
Watch the video below: