The 2026 edition of the MTN Business CTIO Roundtable Africa, held recently at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, drew a record turnout of C-suite executives, tech innovators, policymakers, and AI specialists.

The forum shifted the narrative on artificial intelligence from job displacement to job creation, with a sharp focus on how Ghanaian businesses can harness AI to build new industries, upskill talent, and expand employment opportunities.

Hosted under the theme “AI and the Future of Business,” the high-level roundtable opened with remarks from Angela Mensah-Poku, MTN’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer.

She stressed that Africa cannot afford to be a spectator in the AI revolution. “Our role is to move from consumption to creation,” she said. “AI should be a tool that empowers Ghanaian entrepreneurs, not a threat that replaces them.

Delivering the keynote presentation, Bernard Acquah, Chief Information Officer of MTN Ghana, unpacked practical use cases for AI across sectors. He outlined how companies can deploy machine learning to streamline operations, cut costs, and predict market shifts with greater accuracy.

 More importantly, he demonstrated how AI-driven tools are already helping SMEs automate routine tasks so staff can focus on higher-value work — customer experience, product innovation, and strategic growth.“ Efficiency is not about fewer people,” Acquah noted. “It’s about smarter processes that let businesses scale and hire more people with new digital skills.” His session covered AI in customer service chatbots, fraud detection in fintech, predictive maintenance in manufacturing, and data-driven decision-making for agribusiness.

A dynamic panel discussion followed, moderated by Kobby Spiky Nkrumah, one of the leading voices from Ghana’s tech ecosystem.

Panellists included Foster Akugri, Managing Director, Apex Advisory, Afia Gyamera, CEO, 40 Analytics

Darlington Akogo, CEO, minoHealth AI, Estelle Jacqueline Asare, Head of Digital Transformation, Stanbic Bank.       The conversation gave a clear-eyed view of Ghana’s current AI landscape, rising talent in Accra and Kumasi tech hubs, growing access to cloud infrastructure, but also gaps in policy, data quality, and foundational digital literacy.

The panelists called for stronger partnerships between telcos like MTN, universities, and the government to build AI training pipelines.