Email: blaisebay@gmail.com

Blaise is a tech and public policy researcher with a background in development planning, software development, entrepreneurship, digital innovations, and ecosystem development. He is currently a Senior Fellow and technical coordinator for the Al in Economic Policymaking project at the Africa Centre for Economic Transformation. He has extensive experience in thought leadership in Al, blockchain, and IoT. Previously, he worked at the Tony Blair Institute on tech policy, which led to publishing reports on shaping tech and public policy in Africa. He also served as a research assistant in the Department of Economic History at Lund University, Sweden, where he contributed to two co-published peer-reviewed academic papers on social innovation and development. Additionally, he has written articles on web3 development and its implications for cross-border trade. As a software developer, Blaise has founded global software companies in Africa, focusing on e-commerce, blockchain, and other business verticals. His first company was acquired in 2018. Since 2016, he has explored innovation, technology, and public policy research in emerging economies for both the private and public sectors.

Email: oafriyieakoto@gmail.com

Policy-focused digital transformation specialist with experience driving inclusive digital innovation across financial regulation and public service delivery. At the Bank of Ghana, I support the design and implementation of national policies around fintech, payment regulation and payment fraud, contributing to key frameworks and the broader Digital Financial Services agenda. My background includes public sector advisory work at KPMG, where I led digital strategy projects for government and private clients. This involved advising clients on emerging tech integration including and optimising digital channels and enhancing service accessibility for underserved groups. I bring a strong interest in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) & regulatory modernisation towards the creation of inclusive digital economies. Currently, I am completing an MSc in Business Analytics at Imperial College London, with a focus on data-driven policymaking and the strategic application of emerging technologies in development contexts.

Email: joycelynotchere28@gmail.com

Joycelyn Otchere is a Data Analyst, Co-founder of Kixara, an AI product startup and the Training Programs Lead for the OQD Women-in-Tech Data Analytics Internship program where she’s helping more women, especially final-year students and recent graduates, transition confidently into tech through mentorship, skill-building, and community. Joycelyn’s journey into data began with a background in accounting and experience in healthcare administration, where she worked at the intersection of operations and analytics. In her final year of university, her curiosity led her to conduct a research study on the impact of artificial intelligence on the accounting profession in Ghana, marking her early interest in the intersection of AI and industry transformation. Since transitioning into tech, Joycelyn has made meaningful contributions to the data community. She has tutored over 80 women across six countries (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, the UK, and Zimbabwe) through hands-on, project-based training in Excel, SQL, Python, and Power BI. She is a Maven Analytics Data Challenge winner, with her healthcare project featured on the global platform. Joycelyn also emerged the Best Female Participant and placed Top 2 Overall at the Open Data Bank Galamsey Data Viz Hackathon. This year, she was honored as one of Ghana’s Female Tech Trailblazers on International Girls in ICT Day. In addition to her work in data, Joycelyn is a member of Women in International Security (WIIS), an organization committed to advancing the leadership and professional development of women in international peace and security. On a mission to drive innovation and impact, Joycelyn draws on her experience in healthcare, finance, and tech to solve real-world problems with data, while equipping and inspiring the Next generation of women in tech.

Email: aannkah@google.com

TLDR: Abigail Annkah is a Google AI Research Engineer in Ghana whose work has focused on improving agriculture, education, and the built environment using AI and computer vision, and she's now setting her sights on understanding plant traits to bolster global food security. Abigail Annkah is a Google AI Research Software Engineer based in Ghana, applying computer vision and optimization to tackle real-world challenges and bridge information gaps in developing regions. Her work strongly focuses on improving the built environment, education, and agriculture. Abigail's impactful journey includes analyzing complex microbial images, predicting malaria outbreaks, and significantly contributing to Google's Open Buildings Dataset. Having recently wrapped up her work on agricultural datasets, she's now setting her sights on plant phenotyping, intending to leverage AI to cultivate stronger, more resilient crops and enhance global food security. Abigail serves as an ambassador for Google's Mind the Gap program, inspiring young women to pursue STEM careers. She's also actively mentored aspiring female mathematicians through AIMS Ghana's Girls in Mathematical Sciences Program and empowered teachers in Rwanda to elevate math education.

Email: jeanmichelsarr@google.com

Dr. Jean-Michel Amath Sarr completed his PhD in computer science focusing on neural networks at Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and Sorbonne University in Paris. He later joined Google as a research resident before he converted to a research engineer to work on multilingualism for Large Language Models. He recently contributed synthetic data to the fine-tuning mixture of Gemini 2.5 Flash. Now he focuses on plant phenotyping, leveraging Vision Language Models.

Email: Asiedu.Ansu@telecel.com.gh

Asiedu Ansu is a seasoned data and analytics leader with over 20 years of experience driving value across telecommunications, finance, and technology. He has led strategic initiatives in Data Science and Analytics, Revenue Assurance, Fraud Management, Financial Planning and Data Governance in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. He is currently the Head of Data and Analytics Centre of Excellence (COE) at Telecel Ghana previously Vodafone Ghana, a position he has held since 2019. He championed the establishment of the Data Analytics Centre of Excellence at Vodafone and pioneered the adoption and implementation of data governance policy and strategic and operational initiatives in the organization. Asiedu was previously Senior Manager, Data and Analytics at PricewaterhouseCoopers west market area, he is also a Professional Member of the International Data Management Association (DAMA). Association of chartetered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and holds a professional certification in Artificial Intelligence from Lancaster University,Gh. Asiedu brings a rare blend of business acumen and technical expertise, consistently delivering data-driven solutions to business problems. His leadership is marked by analytical depth, a passion for using data to solve real-world business problems and a strategic mindset. He is known for his ability to partner effectively with stakeholders at all levels to achieve organizational goals.

This workshop explores a suite of "AI Sandbox" exercises and policy tools tailored for economic transformation projects in Africa. Participants will:

• Experience guided simulations of responsible AI deployments at scale.
• Learn governance frameworks to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability.
• Apply policy-modeling techniques to real-world African case studies.

Lead: Blaise Bayuo

Explore how Vision-Language Models (VLMs) combine image & text:

• Architecture basics of VLMs for captioning & visual QA.
• Hands-on fine-tuning of a mini VLM for a custom task.
• Case study: medical image captioning with open-source tools.

Gain confidence in statistical inference using Python:

• Descriptive stats & probability distributions.
• Confidence intervals & hypothesis testing with SciPy.
• Real-world examples from business, healthcare & research.

Build real-world computer vision pipelines:

• Image classification & object detection fundamentals.
• Segmentation workflows & model deployment.
• Case studies in fintech, healthcare & e-commerce.

Create your own chatbot from scratch:

• Integrate Hugging Face APIs & craft effective prompts.
• Build a Streamlit front-end & understand cost control.
• Hands-on template to launch chatbots in minutes.

Demonstrate a proof-of-concept for TB IPS generation from Ghana’s DHIS2 E-Tracker:

• Sandbox aligned with WHO Global Digital Health Certification Network.
• Standards-based IPS structure & validation workflows.
• Cross-border health data interoperability in action.