The Four Pillars Of AI Awakening In Africa

2023 saw a significant rise in the use of Artificial Intelligence globally, in turn increasing the significance of AI in the technology world as well. Similarly, there was much conversation around AI and its capabilities during the entire year and rolling into 2024 as well.

However, despite much conversation around AI, Africa did not feature actively in these conversations, unsurprisingly so, given the early stage of AI adoption in the region. In 2024, talks on AI in Africa are projected to increase especially around the regulation of it. Many African start-ups and technology advancements that have grown at a rapid rate have done so before they began being regulated, a case example is Safaricom’s M-Pesa.

For Africa to get it right with the regulation of AI, it is important to understand its impact in the continent. According to a recent report by Qubit Hub, there are four important pillars that guide the awakening and adoption of AI in Africa.

Referring to them as the ‘Four Horsemen of AI’, Qubit Hub believes that these pillars are the very foundation of AI in Africa. The four pillars include Data & Data Systems, Digital Infrastructure, Talent, and the AI markets.

Data Sets and Data Systems

Data is believed to be at the foundation of any AI model and is what enables AI systems to perform as they should. With the cliché expression that data is the new oil, the new deposit yet to be tapped into is African data. With the population estimated at 1.4 billion by end of 2023, Africa represents about 17 percent of the world population.

From a data market perspective, Africa presents perhaps the last untapped market, whose opportunity for growth is curtailed by limited online data sets.

Data set limitations have several implications in use case scenarios, such as AI powered systems being inept at distinguishing people of colour. These controversies are not limited to facial recognition systems.

Qubit Hub gives an example of when there was an uproar when an AI imaging system could not generate an image of a black doctor treating a white child, and another that wrongfully identified a heavily pregnant black woman as a criminal. These limitations not only result in biased AI systems, but also hinder the development of bespoke AI products for the African market, given that AI systems perform best when trained on data that is representative of the target user.

That said, limited data set availability is gradually becoming a surmountable challenge. The recent years have seen the rise of homegrown African companies and initiatives working towards creating and annotating African data, and converting it into a machine-readable format to train AI systems. Initiatives centred around African Natural Language Processing (NLP) – such as collecting data on African indigenous languages and expressions, and converting them into a machine-readable format- provide a case in point. These initiatives, in turn, have enabled the creation of products in indigenous African languages, as well as the preservation of some.

Digital Infrastructure

It is important for the continent to build data centres, have high-speed connectivity, and even chip manufacturing to power the AI revolution from within. The power of computing is clear to everyone and is crucial to the development of AI as well. It is the power of computing that transforms data sets into useful insights. It is an integral component in the training, running, and finetuning of AI models.

As AI powered technologies become embedded in everyday life, the demand for computing resources will not let up anytime soon.

According to the Data Center Map13, Africa has a total of 95 data centres out of 5,065 globally. This is 1.8 percent compared to the population size of 17 percent of the globe. Additionally, of the top 500 most powerful commercially available computer systems known to us, only one is located in Africa – in Morocco. This means that without adequate investment, Africa’s data will remain largely stored and processed in other parts of the world. Personal information about Africans — such as health and financial information – will be handled in places like Ireland, where big tech has their emerging markets’ headquarters located, and where the jurisdiction and sovereignty of African policy makers may be undermined.

Talent

Another important aspect is upskilling and empowering the African youth to become the creators and drivers of AI Innovation, ensuring inclusive growth. Just like other continents, Africa is experiencing a transformative journey at the crossroads of human talent and AI; a convergence that can potentially transform its development trajectory if harnessed effectively.

Africa has drawn on its cultural heritage and diverse talent, which has grown over time in the evolution of technology that has moved the continent from traditional craftmanship to contemporary innovation. Though often overlooked, the continent boasts a burgeoning pool of skilled professionals, including digital marketers, graphic designers, social media influencers, and others in engineering and entrepreneurship.

In the quest to propel Africa into a prominent position on the AI landscape, it is also imperative to rethink our approach to talent development. Africa needs to cultivate expertise across various dimensions of AI.

The transformative impact of AI on productivity and workflow efficiencies is increasingly evident.

AI Markets and Use cases

When developing any product, it is integral to consider the people who will be using it – this is the market of that product. It is also important to consider the African market when developing AI products. Across the African continent, a quiet revolution is brewing. While the world marvels at Africa’s ubiquitous mobile money ecosystem, a new frontier beckons: AI. For the ecosystem to move in the same direction, the question is whether the population is cognizant of how AI-related interventions meet their needs.

Once awareness is well established, tailoring AI for African realities will be achieved, thereby demonstrating its usefulness. The one-size-fits-all approach to AI will not fly in Africa’s diverse landscape, as the solutions have to be contextually relevant, addressing real-world challenges such as rural development, low literacy levels, and financial inclusion, among others. These solutions, if carefully designed and developed, can leapfrog traditional barriers and have a transformative impact on the lives of African and other populations in the global south.