Evolution of AI in Africa

Originally published in The Yuan on November 11, 2021. Republished here by the author. Read the archived original.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has a plethora of benefits for most organizations and is making the lives of people easier in a number of areas, whether it is smart banking systems, easier access to transportation, loans, and healthcare.

In Rwanda, drone companies such as Charis UAS use AI to power drones that deliver medical supplies to patients in remote areas. Ghanaian startup BACE has developed facial recognition software that addresses the misrepresentation of African faces in datasets using a more diverse one which will be useful for institutions that require identity verification. Nigerian farmers have embraced smart farming practices with the help of AgTech startups such as Zenvus and Rural Farmers Hub, to improve yield and optimize the use of resources. Tunisia founded AI startup InstaDeep to help enterprises in the decision-making process. ATLAN Space, a startup in Morocco, is tracking illegal fishing, marine life, and environmental risks using AI.

The list goes on as to how AI is being used in different parts of the continent to make lives easier.

What is AI Policy?

As stated in AI Policy 101, "AI Policy is defined as public policies that maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing its potential costs and risks."

AI policies can be broken down into ten categories:

1. Basic and Applied Research
2. Talent Attraction, Development and Retainment
3. Future of Work and Skills
4. Industrialization of AI Technologies
5. AI in the Government
6. Data and Digital Infrastructure
7. Ethics
8. Regulations
9. Inclusion
10. Foreign Policy

The Future of Life Institute, led by Max Tegmark, is a non-profit organization that focuses on "reducing global catastrophic and existential risk from powerful technologies." The institute's major focus is on AI, biotechnology, nuclear weapons, and climate.

Regarding Global AI Policy, several resources can be sourced from their website. Organizations and international bodies have already established AI policies and strategies. This includes international strategies established by the European Union, Nordic-Baltic Region, United Nations, International Study Group of Artificial Intelligence, etc., and national strategies from China, Canada, Poland, and Australia, among other countries.

African AI Policies

These policies are useful for setting up an infrastructure that encourages the growth of AI and strategies that alleviate potential risks in the long term.

In Africa, Tunisia, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, and Seychelles have publicly addressed AI policy.

Tunisia's AI Policy aims "to secure a respectable place and enable sustainable and equitable development without forgetting about the ethical, and challenges posed by this emerging technology."

A steering committee was formed to compose the strategy and a task force to supervise the project by Tunisia's Secretary of State for Research during the event "National AI Strategy: Unlocking Tunisia's capabilities potential," held in April 2019. The event was hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy and the National Agency for Scientific Research Promotion.

The Kenyan government created an 11-member Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Task Force in February 2018. The task force is made up of experts from academic, research institutions and the local tech industry. The group aims to advise the government on harnessing emerging technologies, including financial inclusion, cybersecurity, election processes, etc., and advise if there's a need for an innovation fund.

According to the Government Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2020 published by Oxford Insights, Mauritius is not only the highest African country ranked on the list at 45 out of 172 countries, it is the first African nation to have an AI strategy in place. The strategy was put together in November 2018 by a working group, which consisted of several senior ministers and advisors, with its main focus potential AI applications, AI's potential impact, labor requirements, an ecosystem to nurture AI, and a regulatory framework to enable its development.

Top Five

The top five African countries in the Artificial Intelligence Readiness Index 2020 are Mauritius (45), South Africa (59), Seychelles (68), Kenya (71), and Rwanda (87).

Let's take a look at Rwanda, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, and Seychelles.

Rwanda's Ministry of ICT and Innovation and Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority, with support from The Future Society and GIZ FAIR Forward, promoted the development of Rwanda's National Artificial Intelligence Policy. The National AI Policy's mission is "to leverage AI to power economic growth, improve quality of life and position Rwanda as a global innovator for responsible and inclusive AI."

Some of the key policy recommendations include positioning Rwanda as the No.1 destination for AI research and education in Africa, commitment to reskilling the workforce with 21st century AI and data skills, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and secure high performance computing capacity, and 14 other policy recommendations. It also covers five key sectors for AI adoption: healthcare, banking and digital payments, eCommerce, transportation, and agriculture.

South Africa has the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution South Africa in partnership with the Department of Science and Innovation, which is concerned with developing policies and governance frameworks that will allow South Africa to use AI responsibly.

Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology put together The National AI Strategy through the National Council for Artificial Intelligence in November 2019. The mission is to "create an AI Industry in Egypt, including the development of skills, technology, ecosystem, infrastructure and governance mechanisms to ensure its sustainability and competitiveness." The priority sectors are agriculture/environment and water management, healthcare, natural language processing, economic planning, and manufacturing/infrastructure management.

Honing Skills

Uganda's National 4IR Strategy mission is "to transform and accelerate the nation's development into an innovative, productive and competitive society using 4IR technologies by 2040." This includes digital technologies, such as cloud computing, AI, and blockchain, and physical technologies, such as advanced robotics and 3D printing, and biological technologies, such as genetics and neurotechnology. The National Expert Taskforce was formed in 2018 to advise the government on how to achieve the seven strategic objectives, such as strengthening and stimulating research and innovation in 4IR, supporting national security in the physical and digital worlds, etc.

Aside from creating AI policies, building AI talent within the continent is of immense importance. Africa has the largest population of youths, constituting 19 percent of the global youth population in 2015, numbering 226 million.

There are a number of institutes, communities, and conferences encouraging the advancement of AI in the African continent, including the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, located in Senegal, Rwanda, Ghana, South Africa and Cameroon, and Google's Artificial Intelligence Lab in Ghana, Data Science Nigeria, Deep Learning Indaba, and Alliance For AI.

AI is still in the early stages of development in Africa, and there are considerable challenges ahead, such as algorithmic bias, discrimination, income inequality, data exploitation, and the suppression of innovation.

Most of us feel like the future lies in some far and distant land, when in reality, it's happening right before us. AI has affected, and is still affecting, our lives. It's never too early for these policies and strategies to be discussed.

References

1. Facial recognition tech in Africa, boosted by Ghana AI startup (Quartz)
2. InstaDeep Series A (MENAbytes)
3. AI Policy 101 (Politics + AI, Medium)
4. AI Policy (Future of Life Institute)
5. AI Policy: Tunisia (Future of Life Institute)
6. National AI Strategy: Unlocking Tunisia's capabilities potential (ANPR)
7. AI Policy: Kenya (Future of Life Institute)
8. Kenya unveils 11-member Blockchain and AI taskforce (Kenyan Wall Street)
9. Mauritius AI Strategy 2018 (NCB Mauritius)
10. The AI Strategy of Mauritius (Dataseries, Medium)
11. AISCI 2020: Rwanda (CAIDP)
12. Artificial intelligence policy in South Africa (SciELO)
13. Egypt data policy initiative (OECD STIP)
14. Digital Economy and 4IR (UNCTAD)
15. Youth population fact sheet (United Nations)
16. Artificial intelligence policies in Africa (ResearchGate)