Seeding Future: How Africa is Growing Its Own AI
Seeding Future: How Africa is Growing Its Own AI
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The latest episode of Pan-African Frequency breaks down how strategic investments and partnerships can drive the continent’s biggest opportunities, from building a self-reliant AI ecosystem and leveraging the massive continental free trade area, to how African media is dismantling old stereotypes.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has officially announced a significant commitment to fund artificial intelligence training across the continent. This isn't just a tech initiative; it's being framed as a direct investment into the very engine of Agenda 2063—Africa's master plan for transformative economic growth and sustainable development. Dr. Oluwaseun Ogunmola, a Nigerian artificial intelligence thought leader and co-founder of AI in Africa, described how artificial intelligence is a necessity in realizing the Africa we want, emphasizing that the joint efforts from public and private partnerships will prevent digital colonialism of Africa.
“If artificial intelligence will drive the fifth industrial revolution, and Africa is trying to say by 2063, which will also fall within the confines of the fifth industrial revolution, we want to become a global power, we want to be a prosperous continent, then it is very glaring and obvious that artificial intelligence has a very good role to play, which is why I believe the AfDB is saying investment in artificial intelligence is very, very vital at this point. AI is that vehicle that will take us to achieving our Agenda 2063, amongst other things [...] We need to have companies that are also investing in building some of these things. AI models that are targeted at Africa, I mean, targeted at the African context. Silicon Valley models will not solve our problem, so tech companies in Africa, in Nigeria, in Kenya, in Ghana need to also start looking at how to start building [....] I believe it's a concerted effort. From the government, from the private sector, from the institutions, from all the stakeholders involved - the African Union, the individual government of each African country. Everybody needs to put hands together to build some of these things out so that we can achieve the Africa we want that is not relying on the West and the rest of the world for everything we have,” Ogumola indicated.
In the second segment of this episode, the honorable state minister for the ministry of trade and regional cooperation in Ethiopia, Her Excellency Yasmin Wohabrebbi, spoke with Pan-African Frequency on how the country is working to ensure the smooth implementation of the country’s commitment under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“The African Continental Free Trade Agreement is going to be a big market because it will have over 1.4 billion population, over 3.4 trillion GDP, so for Ethiopia to join this big market under the AfCFTA framework is a big commitment [...] Currently, we have been preparing for the actual launch of trading goods in the next few weeks. For this, one of the cores’ expected deliverables from the Ethiopian government was gazetting the tariff book, which has been already done after the approval of the minister's council recently [...] We are also trying to work on border trade, on a simplified border trade regime, aligned with the AfCFTA rules and protocols, of course. Beyond that also, there are some engagements that have already started with neighboring countries like Djibouti, where we have also tried to establish an agreement to really simplify flows of goods to those communities that are living on the borders,” the minister explained.
To conclude the episode, Sputnik Africa’s correspondent interacted with media scholars that attended the recent 15th East African Communication Association Conference held in Ethiopia. In their remarks, Malika Joseph Nginilla, lecturer at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Dar es Salaam, and Dr. Abdulaziz Dino, who is the head of the School of Journalism and Communication, Addis Ababa University, asserted that there is a need to break the hegemony of Western media narratives in telling African stories by decolonizing media education, investing in robust infrastructure, fostering collaboration, and strategically leveraging new technologies like AI.
“Africa has been a victim of images, negative images, for decades. Starting from the time of colonization, of course, until recent years, Africa has been subject to misrepresentations and distortions of its enabling images [....] now it's a great opportunity for scholars, for practitioners in media, and for journalists to use this chance of reproducing African realities, images, and restoring distorted images,” Dino pointed out.
To listen to the full discussions with our guests, tune in to the Pan African Frequency podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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