Former Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has warned that the high cost of mobile data remains one of the most significant barriers to Africa’s meaningful participation in the artificial intelligence revolution, urging governments to treat connectivity affordability as a foundational policy priority.
Delivering a keynote address at the LSE Africa Summit 2026 in London on March 28, Bawumia said that while internet penetration across Africa has improved, access remains uneven and often constrained by cost. He cited 2025 data showing that entry-level mobile broadband prices on the continent were still above the United Nations’ affordability threshold.
“Before we debate algorithms, we must be disciplined about the foundations that enable adoption at scale,” Bawumia said, adding that without affordable connectivity, AI risks benefiting only a narrow segment of the population.
Focusing on Ghana, he said the cost of 1 gigabyte of data currently ranges between approximately $0.05 and $1.50, depending on the provider and bundle. While this positions Ghana relatively well compared to regional peers, he said the disparity in real access remains stark. “Internet access is relatively affordable for middle- and high-income groups; however, it remains costly for low-income households,” he said, attributing the gap to income inequality and the structure of the informal sector.
Bawumia said policymakers must focus not only on connectivity but on ensuring people are “online meaningfully with affordable data, adequate speeds, and reliable service.” He warned that failure to address affordability gaps would directly undermine efforts to expand inclusive digital access and deepen inequality as AI becomes more central to economic activity.
“Africa’s AI agenda is also an infrastructure agenda,” he said, calling for urgent and deliberate policy action to reduce data costs and expand access as a prerequisite for ensuring the continent does not fall behind in the global digital economy.
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