Africa: Why the African Continent Has a Role to Play in Developing AI

Heads of state, top government officials, and scientists from around 100 countries have gathered in Paris for a two-day international summit on developing artificial intelligence (AI). Decisions are expected to be reached on AI’s real-world impact and how to take it forward together. The African continent has an important role to play, a Cameroonian AI specialist tells RFI.

According to the African Union, AI is a “strategic asset pivotal to achieving the aspirations of Agenda 2063” (The Africa We Want) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To get a sense of where the continent is at, RFI spoke to Paulin Melatagia, head of the research team on IA and data science at Yaounde I University.

RFI: Artificial intelligence will profoundly change our societies in many fields. Do you think the African continent has already begun its transformation?

Paulin Melatagia: Yes, I believe the continent has already started its transformation. There are a lot of initiatives across the continent – lots of startups and many public organisations are beginning to invest in the development of AI applications, notably in the fields of health, transportation, and agriculture. They’re being proposed almost every month as part of competitions and hackathons to address Africa-specific issues.

RFI: Would you say African leaders have grasped the magnitude of what is happening?

PM: There are already a set of measures at the African Union level, with documents that outline an AI strategy for the continent. Measures are also being taken at the institutional level in various countries, such as the creation of authorities responsible for data protection. Some countries are also setting up infrastructures like computing centres that allow data to be processed and used to develop AI. Governments in most countries are aware of the stakes and opportunities of AI, even if progress is quite uneven from one country to another.

RFI: Which African countries are currently leading in this field?

PM: According to the Oxford Insights ranking, the leading countries in Africa in terms of AI preparedness and implementation in North Africa are Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. In sub-Saharan Africa, notable countries include Mauritania, South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, and Benin.

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RFI: Isn’t internet access still a barrier to developing AI on the continent?

PM: Yes there are challenges. One major issue is connectivity because it’s important, especially for startups, to get access to data. For that to happen smoothly, you need high-quality internet. Another challenge is the lack of computing infrastructure in order to develop artificial intelligence. It requires significant computing power, and unfortunately Africa currently has very few supercomputers capable of processing large datasets for AI development.

Another major obstacle is data availability. To create AI solutions that address Africa’s problems, we need African data. But when we look at the statistics, we see that very little data is collected on Africa. So when we analyse well-known AIs like ChatGPT, we notice significant biases regarding African realities. These biases stem from the limited amount of African data used to train these models.

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RFI: Are there any 100 percent African AI projects?

PM: There are already some proposals for 100 percent African AI, but few for the moment. Take the example of African languages. Currently, African languages are rare in the digital and AI sectors. Yet we know that many people in rural areas speak these languages and don’t speak colonial languages. About 26 percent of adults in Africa are illiterate when it comes to colonial languages.

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Developing AI solutions that understand and process African languages would therefore be extremely beneficial for these populations. Unfortunately, African languages are considered “under-resourced,” meaning there is not enough digitised data to create AI models tailored for Africa.

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RFI: What message should Africa convey at a summit like the one in Paris?

PM: In my opinion, the fundamental message is that Africa has a role to play in the development of artificial intelligence, both in solving social problems on the continent and in contributing to new AI concepts and knowledge that can drive global AI progress forward.

This interview was adapted from the original in French and lightly edited for clarity.

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