Malta and Ghana set sights on practical AI partnership

Malta and Ghana are exploring a collaborative partnership in artificial intelligence (AI), merging Malta's nimble institutions and regulatory expertise with Ghana's human capital, expansive reach, and regional sway. Malta's High Commissioner to Ghana, Ronald Micallef, proposed this collaborative approach during the One Vecta Africa AI Week 2026 held in Accra.

He suggested a focused conversation involving governments, regulators, universities, and the private sector aimed at turning broad discussions into concrete, accountable projects with tangible results. Micallef emphasized that Malta's national AI strategy, launched in 2019 with a vision to 2030, hinges on three key principles: establishing trustworthy institutions, equipping people with the skills to comprehend and critically assess AI, and maintaining human values and national purpose at the heart of development.

Since then, Malta has fortified its regulatory framework, including the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, which, as a legally mandated body, oversees the responsible deployment of emerging technologies in alignment with EU AI Act regulations. The High Commissioner unveiled Malta's AI for All program, a complimentary online platform developed in tandem with the University of Malta.

This initiative equips individuals aged 14 and above with basic AI knowledge in either Maltese or English, underscoring that AI literacy has become an essential civic requirement. Micallef highlighted AI literacy as a necessity, stressing that individuals must not only operate AI tools but can also scrutinize their outputs, comprehend their constraints, and grasp their potential impact on their lives.

Leveraging Ghana's cultural philosophy of Sankofa, Micallef cautioned that the development of AI entails critical questions about safeguarding history, languages, and knowledge. He quoted Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who recently noted that while the palace must safeguard memory, it should also evolve into a hub for innovation.

Micallef connected this philosophy to Project ETHICS, a Malta-backed initiative collaboratively developed with Step Up Nigeria and partners from Ghana. The project fosters discussions around ethics—integrity, empathy, responsibility, fairness, and service—within everyday life and community settings. Micallef noted that Ghana's focus on strengthening ethics education presents a promising arena for cooperation, especially as the younger generation prepares to interact with sophisticated yet imperfect technological systems.

He also extended an invitation for Ghanaian entities to engage in the development of a Sovereign Technology Centre, slated for the sister island of Gozo, where Malta plans to establish a solar-powered hub for research and testing on sovereign technologies, encompassing AI. Micallef clarified that sovereign AI doesn't imply isolation but rather the preservation of significant control over vital data, computational infrastructure, standards, and crucial systems.

Potential cooperation areas between Malta and Ghana encompass AI assurance and governance, AI education, ethics instruction, data oversight, collaborative research, and engagement with the proposed Gozo center. The High Commissioner stressed that this partnership should not merely entail replicating one nation's model in another.

Instead, he stressed the significance of learning from each other's unique strengths to construct solutions adapted to the specific national contexts of both Malta and Ghana. He concluded: "The future will belong not to those with the most intelligent machines, but to those with the wisdom to choose what intelligence serves."