Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says the government's Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered customs valuation system has significantly increased revenue collection, generating more than GH¢300 million in additional customs revenue since its full deployment in March 2026.

Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, Dr Forson said the Publican AI Trade Solution has transformed customs administration by improving the detection of undervalued imports and strengthening revenue mobilisation.

"Technology is already transforming customs administration. The Publican AI Trade Solution was fully deployed in March 2026, and the results have been remarkable," he said.

According to the Finance Minister, the system generated more than GH¢300 million in additional customs collections between its pilot phase in January and February and its full rollout from March to 17 July 2026.

"Between the pilot phase, January and February, and the full rollout phase, March to 17 July 2026, the Publican AI Trade Solution increased our customs collection by over GH¢300 million, representing a 17.5% uplift over the values originally declared by importers," he said.

He explained that while the AI system increased the aggregate declared Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) value of imports by about 6.3 per cent, it raised customs collections by 17.5 per cent.

"Publican increased the aggregate declared Cost, Insurance and Freight value of imports by approximately 6.3%, but increased our customs collection by 17.5%," he stated.

The Finance Minister disclosed that the AI platform has reviewed approximately 366,000 import declarations since it became operational.

According to him, nearly one in every four declarations was identified as requiring further scrutiny.

"Since deployment, the system has analysed approximately 366,000 import declarations. Nearly one in every four, representing 24%, triggered more than one valuation risk indicator, requiring further review by customs officials."

He said many of those declarations would previously have passed through the system without any detailed checks.

"Before the deployment of the Publican AI, many of these declarations would have been cleared without scrutiny, leading to substantial revenue losses."

Dr Forson said the benefits of the AI system were evident in monthly customs collections.

He revealed that in March alone, the technology generated an additional GH¢73.44 million, representing a 25.7 per cent increase in customs revenue.

This was followed by additional collections of GH¢51.63 million in April, GH¢72.5 million in May, GH¢55.82 million in June, and GH¢35.17 million during the first 17 days of July.

The Finance Minister also announced that average monthly customs revenue has risen significantly since the introduction of the system.

"The impact is also reflected in monthly customs revenue, which has increased from an average of approximately GH¢4 billion in 2025 to between GH¢5.3 billion and GH¢5.5 billion in 2026."

"In 2025, the average monthly customs collection was GH¢4 billion. Today, the average monthly customs collection has moved to between GH¢5.3 billion and GH¢5.5 billion," he added.

Dr Forson said the AI system had uncovered several instances where importers declared values far below the amounts assessed by the technology.

He disclosed that examples of such cases have been included in the Mid-Year Budget Review documents for public scrutiny.

"I have included some of the cases identified by the Publican system in the Mid-Year Review document. It is mind-blowing," he said.

"In each instance, the declared value was only a fraction of the value assessed by the AI Publican system."

The Publican AI Trade Solution is an artificial intelligence-powered customs valuation and trade analytics platform introduced by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in early 2026 to strengthen revenue mobilisation and combat customs fraud.

While the government says the platform improves transparency and reduces revenue leakages, its rollout has generated debate among importers and freight forwarders, who have raised concerns about its implementation and impact on trade.