Building for an AI Future in Africa

Over chicken and chips in Nairobi at my favorite outdoor BBQ joint, I met with Tomiwa, the CEO of Big Cabal Media, a few months ago. We discussed how the communications, media worlds are being disrupted by AI. We mused about what the implications were for us as professionals. We talked about what it meant for Africa. I shared a bit with him about The Rundown concept and what the team and I were thinking.

I shared about my new best friend, Wanja. She is your guide to understanding and communicating about Africa, with data sets curated by Africans.

Wanja is a R.A.G where we are testing the retrieval of data sets and structured and labeled data of our own, in order to ensure that there exists a platform that can go and get Africa-focused content, curated by Africans. She has some limited responses, and data sets, and we focused on some specific ones. Here’s some of our thinking on Wanja. Please offer your thoughts to us, we are learning.

I wrote a piece warning African leaders not to sell their data sets. Same reason.

We believe, as storytellers, that the next battle for narratives will revolve around data sets, so we need to act now. We need to write these, not be written about. Sound familiar? There’s a lot of work to do here!

We decided we would join forces and share what we have learned (and are learning) with our audiences on the continent and in the diaspora, and create forums for ideas, discussion and future chicken and chips!

Meanwhile, in my spare time, I was working with Matthew Cullen of Mirada Studios in LA to generate a fully AI film capturing the Africa, Climate story. We did not want it to feel "typical.” I know you know what I mean. This was created, with Mat’s genius, and released during COP in Dubai.

Tomiwa and the TechCabal team got what we were trying to achieve and tested and the potential there could be for all storytellers willing to wade into new tech. They wrote this story. Asante for this again.

I’m also excited to spend some time with Professor Bitange Ndemo, who is one of the most respected technology leaders and a powerful voice for Africa. He is currently Kenya’s ambassador to Belgium. He’s the one call I make when I want to understand anything tech and Africa.

There are two other voices that are important here when we are talking about building for an AI future in Africa: Strive Masiyiwa and James Manyika. I listened to a few interviews and speeches they have given recently and summarized some key areas that anyone thinking about this space should consider.

Africa's Unique Opportunity

• Africa has a unique opportunity to leapfrog traditional technologies and leverage AI to drive economic growth and address socio-economic challenges.
• We want to fully participate in the economic opportunity. What would that look like? We have to be able to build our own enterprises. Our own entrepreneurs must feel they're a part of this, that we are creating wealth, and that we're not just users of platforms and systems where others are of economic benefit. - Strive.
• Because AI tools are accessible to users without significant expertise, they help bridge the knowledge gap between expert employees and everyone else. In other words, AI creates a “leveling up” opportunity that is important when formal education or training gaps serve as economic mobility barriers - James

Ethical AI Development

Emphasis must be placed on developing AI responsibly, ensuring it is aligned with values, addresses bias, and promotes transparency.

• Develop ethical frameworks and guidelines for AI development and deployment.
• We need an Afrocentric approach.

“The developer ecosystem in Africa is actually quite phenomenal. It is incumbent on us to make sure people fully understand what this is and what this isn't, and to exercise the necessary caution and responsibility.” ” Strive Masiyiwa

Talent Development

Investing in education, training, and upskilling programs is essential to developing a strong AI talent pool and nurturing a culture of innovation

• We have to be able to build our own enterprises. We don't want to be users any more than we want to be used. The kid in Zimbabwe who doesn't know how to code but has an idea - Strive Masiyiwa
• Developing robust skills and talent pipelines, starting with education and training to equip students with the right technical knowledge, all the way to skilling programs for people already in the workforce,. Africa has a unique opportunity to tap and enable its rich pipeline of young talent.” - James Manyika

Challenges

We know what these are and what we need to do in Africa. Got it.

Lack of connectivity

Lack of electricity

Lack of data centers

Lack of skilled talent.

The digital divide.

Because an “AI divide” lurks within a larger and still-persistent digital divide, investing in the right enabling infrastructure, in particular ubiquitous, fast and affordable connectivity, data and devices, and reliable electricity, is critical; without this, nothing else happens. - James Manyika

Solutions

• We’ve got to foster vibrant AI ecosystems that include universities, entrepreneurs, startups, dynamic business partnerships, and venture capital. Open source has been an incredible mechanism to get entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators, to build, tinker, and develop amazing systems.
• People feel threatened by new technologies, and it can either be ordinary people or even those in authority- Strive
• One of the things that's made it difficult is the broad-based infrastructure investment—not just for AI, but just infrastructure, period. If we're going to provide connectivity for things like 5G networks, high-speed broadband, one of the first things we needed to put in place was the plumbing, the fiber network. We are building that. Strive
• There is a need for supportive policies, regulations, and governance structures to foster an AI-friendly environment in Africa.

It’s essential that Africa adopt a continental-scale view of its opportunities beyond national boundaries. This will help African entrepreneurs and businesses by giving them access to opportunities with market scale, and by attracting financing. African heads of state took an encouraging first step with the adoption of the Digital Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area at the recent AU Summit - James Manyika

• There’s also a need to attract investments, both within Africa, the diaspora and globally, to support AI research, development, and entrepreneurship.
• Establishing AI foundations: the core elements any company, organisation, or region needs, such as compute, data, access to AI models, enabling model and application development by many more players, including in Africa, and AI expertise to drive innovation—James
• Investing in education and upskilling talent

Sector-Specific Applications

AI can have a huge impact on key sectors in Africa, such as agriculture, healthcare, education, and financial services.

• Because AI is a general-purpose technology, applicable across all sectors, its productivity-enhancing impact will be most significant when it is applied across multiple companies and sectors, especially those large or important to national economies such as manufacturing, the public sector, or agriculture, where for example, AI can help improve crop yields, weather forecasting, development of new crops, and water use. - James
• James adds that AI has shown promising results in climate change adaptation, such as enabling forecasting to help people better prepare for floods in 80 countries, 26 of which are in Africa.
• In health, AI models are being trialed in Kenya that make ultrasounds more accessible to lightly-trained ultrasound operators in under-resourced settings.

Misinformation / Disinformation

Affects Africa the same as everyone else. The same challenges we are grappling with here. Misinformation and disinformation are a particularly timely concern this year, as an estimated 2.5 billion people in more than 60 countries will be voting, many in Africa.

The Rundown Next

The Rundown will be focusing on training African talent on AI, offering courses, tips, and interviews with a view to upskilling and reskilling talent, to better position them for jobs of the future. What that looks like is moving fast all the time, and The Rundown will keep pace while assessing new technologies, doubling down on core storytelling, and ensuring ethics are front of mind. We will share our back end build soon.

No Dey Carry Last.