Prominent Ghanaian lawyer Ace Anan Ankomah has called on African countries to move beyond being passive consumers of technology and become active creators of the artificial intelligence systems that will shape the future, warning that the continent risks being left behind if it fails to assert itself in the emerging AI revolution.Delivering the 2026 Commencement Address at SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College (SOS-HGIC) in Tema on Saturday, Mr Ankomah said Africa had a rare opportunity to help shape the next phase of global technological development but could only do so through deliberate investment in innovation, ethical leadership and technological self-determination.Addressing graduates on the theme, “Shaping Ethical Leaders for an AI-Driven Future: A Pan-African Responsibility,” he said artificial intelligence was transforming economies, politics and human interaction at unprecedented speed, making it imperative for Africa to secure a meaningful place in the technologies that will define the future.“For too long, our continent has entered global revolutions late, and even then, as a consumer rather than a creator,” he said, and added that “Today, however, Africa has a rare opportunity not merely to participate in a new technological age, but to help shape it.”Ace Ankomah warned that the continent could not afford to remain dependent on systems designed entirely elsewhere.“As I have often quoted, if you are not at the table, chances are that you are on the menu,” he told the graduating class.“That is why a Pan-African responsibility is required: not merely to secure a seat at the table, but to build our own table and help write the menu.”The lawyer argued that Pan-Africanism must evolve beyond its traditional political and economic dimensions to include technological and intellectual independence.Invoking Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, he said Africa’s quest for self-determination must now extend into the digital age.“Kwame Nkrumah urged us to seek first the political kingdom. Today, Africa must also seek technological sovereignty,” he said.According to him, technological sovereignty does not mean isolation from the rest of the world, but rather the capacity to shape the continent’s own future within a global technological ecosystem.He stressed that Africa must contribute to the design of both emerging technologies and the ethical frameworks that govern them.“We cannot be and remain passive users of systems designed entirely elsewhere. We must help design the technologies and ethical frameworks that will govern the future,” he said.Ace Ankomah expressed concern that AI systems developed without sufficient African participation could reinforce existing inequalities and fail to address the continent’s unique realities.He cited the risks of healthcare systems that do not account for African genetic diversity, financial technologies that inadvertently exclude African communities and language technologies that marginalise indigenous African languages.“Imagine AI making decisions about African realities without adequately understanding Africa,” he said, warning that “These are not merely a technological problem; it is a moral one.”Despite the challenges, he expressed optimism about Africa’s potential to become a major force in innovation, pointing to advances already being developed by young entrepreneurs across the continent.He recounted meeting innovators in Rwanda who had embedded digital business cards into wearable rings, allowing users to instantly transfer personal information through simple contact with a mobile phone.For him, such examples demonstrated the creativity and ingenuity already emerging across Africa.“Perhaps for the first time, a student in Accra, Tamale, Koforidua or Ho armed with imagination plus discipline plus a laptop can build something that affects millions,” he said.However, Ace Ankomah cautioned that innovation alone would not be enough.Drawing on concerns raised by leading AI scientists and technology experts worldwide, he warned that advances in artificial intelligence must be accompanied by strong ethical safeguards.“Technology without ethics is power without restraint,” he said.He argued that Africa’s greatest contribution to the AI era may not be technological capability alone, but its long-standing traditions of community, shared responsibility and human-centred thinking.Referencing philosophies such as Ubuntu and the African belief that “it takes a village to raise a child,” he said the continent possessed values that could help guide the ethical development of emerging technologies.“In a world increasingly shaped by automation, Africa can remind humanity that people are more than data points or economic units,” he said. “We are moral beings bound together by responsibility to one another.”Mr Ankomah urged the graduating class to combine intellectual excellence with ethical leadership and position themselves to become architects, rather than mere consumers, of the AI-powered future.“Africa’s destiny in this new age depends not only on skilled graduates, but on ethical leaders,” he said.“Men and women who can unite innovation with conscience, ambition with humanity, and intelligence with wisdom.”