Government to explore AI in business development; support businesses adopt AI in operations – Abena Osei-Asare

Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Abena Osei Asare, has said the Government will explore the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in business development to create the necessary support systems for businesses to adopt AI to grow and flourish.

She made the assertion while speaking at the 8th Ghana CEO Summit on the theme “Reigniting Business and Economic Growth: Charting a Path Forward.”

AI is projected to be a $ 15.7 trillion economy by 2030, increase productivity by 40%, and grow the GDP of local economies by 26%.

According to her, the Government is looking to invest some GHS 3bn into the real sectors of the economy to support SMEs to aid the growth of the economy.

Speaking on developments in the Ghanaian economy, Ms Osei-Asare quipped that with support from the IMF and the execution of the PC-PEG programme developed by the Government, Ghana has seen growth in its GDP rate.

Further stating that, on the back of the IMF programme and fiscal consolidation efforts by the Government, the exchange rates have stabilized over the years, inflation has been reduced, the risk of debt accumulation has been reduced, and interest rates are going down.

Preliminary fiscal data for quarter one of 2024 showed that the primary balance (on a commitment basis) was a deficit of 0.6% of GDP, against the deficit target of 0.2% of GDP.

This was largely on the back of delays in the implementation of some of the 2024 revenue measures approved for the 2024 Budget.

Speaking at a recent media briefing the Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Government plans to fast-track revenue mobilisation in subsequent quarters to enable us to achieve our primary balance target of a surplus of 0.5% in 2024 and 1.5% of GDP in the 2025-2028 period.

He also noted that the Government is working to restore debt sustainability by 2028.

The Public Debt trajectory is already showing signs of improvement as the debt-to-GDP ratio reduced to 71.4% of GDP at the end of 2023 from 73.5% of GDP at the end of 2022.

Source: Norvanreports