African nations are encountering hurdles in leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for economic advancement, potentially lagging behind developed countries by up to ten years. The obstacles highlighted at the Gitex Africa 2024 expo in Morocco include data scarcity, skills shortages, inadequate tech infrastructure, and public indifference.
African nations are navigating significant challenges as they strive to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) for economic growth, potentially trailing developed countries by up to a decade. The Gitex Africa 2024 expo in Morocco highlighted these obstacles, including data scarcity, skills shortages, inadequate tech infrastructure, and public indifference.
Ken Okolo, head of commercial partnerships for the Middle East and Africa at the Raspberry Pi Foundation, underscored the need for properly trained AI professionals. He emphasized the risks of AI misuse in areas like security and democracy. Essowe Bakoubolo, founder of Togolese tech startup Umbaji, predicted that African AI adoption would match developed nations in about ten years, stressing the importance of localized data for applications such as speech recognition.
Yeabkalu Merkebe, deputy project lead at Ethiopian health tech firm Adot, identified the lack of Africa-specific data as a critical issue, suggesting the necessity of digitalizing daily activities to reduce model biases.
Kenya, among others, has enacted data legislation like the 2019 Data Protection Act to regulate data use and establish a licensing framework. Additionally, barriers such as low virtual storage capacity and outdated mobile technology persist.
Despite obstacles, companies leveraging AI have reported operational efficiencies. Microsoft recently announced a $1 billion investment to develop an AI model for the Swahili language, aiming to support Kenya’s cultural and linguistic needs and drive AI adoption among local communities.
