Hubtel shifts strategy to rent global AI engines while keeping local data

Hubtel, a Ghanaian technology company, changed its strategy to rent global artificial intelligence tools instead of building its own infrastructure from scratch. Augustine Adjei, the company's Head of Engineering, explained this shift during a documentary premiere on Joy News.

Hubtel originally opened an AI lab in 2023 to develop custom tools, including a system for the Electricity Company of Ghana to detect power theft.

However, the company decided to stop trying to outbuild global giants when international firms began offering powerful tools for 20 to 25 dollars a month. Adjei noted that while Ghanaian talent is abundant, the company lacked the hundreds of millions of dollars required to compete with global firms on infrastructure. The company now negotiates directly with global AI providers to run models inside its own systems.

This arrangement allows Hubtel to keep full ownership of its data while ensuring that providers do not use its information to train external models. To ensure accuracy, Hubtel trains its AI on local information, such as a virtual call centre agent that speaks with a Ghanaian accent and uses internal data to check order statuses. The Ghanaian government is also working on infrastructure to support this shift.

Communications Minister Sam George stated that the government is building a national data exchange hub to connect about 48 public registries, such as the Ghana Health Service. This hub will allow developers to make one request instead of 48. Adjei advised businesses to protect their information and use existing global tools while local options mature.