First AETF AI conference comes to Accra in November

By Ernest Bako WUBONTO

The Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF) has announced Ghana as the host of the inaugural Africa Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conference from November 5–6, 2025 in Accra.

The event, under the theme ‘AI for Africa: Unlocking Opportunities for Education, Innovation and Sustainable Development’, aims to position Africa at the forefront of the global AI revolution by linking education, industry and innovation.

The AETF AI Conference will bring together ministers, policy-makers, researchers, innovators, investors and youth leaders from across Africa and beyond.

Sessions will explore how AI can transform education, finance, agribusiness, energy, communications and governance, while creating pathways for African youth to thrive in the global economy.

The Conference Planning Committee Chairman, Prof. Sam Ndoga, stated: “This conference represents a unique opportunity for Africa to define its own path in the AI era. We are not just examining the technology itself, but also how it can be applied to education, business and development to ensure our young people are prepared to compete globally.”

The conference will also provide international and local companies with the opportunity to exhibit AI-related products and services. These exhibitions will demonstrate how AI can support Africa’s competitiveness in finance, trade, education, agriculture and other critical sectors, helping the continent to better integrate into the global economy.

A distinguished board governs the Africa Education Trust Fund (AETF) and a management team drawn from across Africa and the diaspora, reflecting the fund’s pan-African mandate and global reach.

Chairman of AETF, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, speaking at the media launch of the AETF AI Conference in Accra, emphasised the dual goals of the conference. “We are bringing together global and African voices to ensure that AI becomes a tool for Africa’s progress—not another digital divide. This conference is a platform where ideas meet investment, and where Africa’s youth gain the skills to lead in the AI-driven global economy.”

Renowned Ghanaian educationist and Company Secretary of Africa Education Trust Fund, Prof. Goski Alabi, emphasised that the conference seeks to harness the boundless power of AI to transform Africa’s education, economy and human development landscape.

“The AETF was founded on a simple but powerful conviction: that education, innovation and enterprise must work together to secure the Africa we want,” she said.

According to her, the launch of the conference is a declaration that Africa will not be a passive consumer of technology, but an active architect of intelligent, ethical and inclusive innovation.

On his part, J. Wendell Addy, Founder, Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS) and Advisory Board Member of AETF, said the upcoming AI in Africa Conference is both timely and historic. “It seeks to examine how artificial intelligence will shape Africa’s productivity, education, governance and social development.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Abu Bako, the Founding President of Logos Rhema, urged Africans to lead the stewardship of what he termed divine intelligence – authentic intelligence from where we get AI – in our time. “Africa, the birthplace of Mathematics and Algorithms, shall rise again by empowering and drawing out the best in Africa’s next generation of ethical leaders,” he said.

The initial sponsors of the conference are Glico, Fidelity Bank, Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Meta, Margins, ONESTA and Africa Private Sector Summit (APSS).

The various speakers at the launch of the conference encouraged more organisations and individuals to get on board as sponsors. Organisations were also invited to register to enable their IT teams to attend the conference.