Ghana's $270 million AI data centre plan faces criticism

Bright Simons, Vice-President and head of Research at the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has raised concerns regarding Ghana's proposed $270 million artificial intelligence project, known as GhanaChat. The plan involves building a new AI data centre and establishing an AI Fund to develop a homegrown chatbot intended to compete with global platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Simons argues that the project may require a yearly government subsidy of approximately $61 million to remain operational. His modeling suggests the facility would require roughly 2,100 graphics processing units (GPUs) and an information technology load of 4.3 megawatts, which would represent about 90 percent of Ghana's entire commercial data-centre electricity load recorded in 2024.

As an alternative, Simons proposed developing a $13 million AI assistant specifically for the civil service. He suggested that a sovereign AI tool for government operations could provide more practical benefits and better value for money than attempting to build a top-tier national data centre and a platform to compete directly with established global AI services.