The African Union (AU) Executive Council has approved the “Continental Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy,” which proposes the adoption of AI in the public and private sectors among member states, including Nigeria.
This was disclosed in the Continental Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy document published on the AU website on Friday, August 9, 2024.
The AU Strategy on Artificial Intelligence (AI) was adopted by the AU Executive Council during its 45th Ordinary Session held between July 18 and 19, 2024, in Accra, Ghana.
The strategy was unanimously endorsed by the African ICT and Communications Ministers of the AU in June 2024, among others.
TheWitness previously reported that over 130 African ministers and experts virtually convened between June 11 and 13, 2024, for the AU’s 2nd Extraordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Communication and ICT.
They eventually endorsed a Continental AI Strategy that will guide African countries to harness artificial intelligence to meet the continent’s development aspirations and the well-being of its people.
Key Recommendations of the Endorsed Strategy:
– Develop Africa-owned AI infrastructure: An AI infrastructure is an integrated environment of hardware and software designed specifically for AI and machine learning workloads, paving the way for data processing and deployment.
– AI Regulation:The strategy recommends guidelines that will moderate the boundaries of AI usage on the continent.
– Funding for AI-based Research: The strategy calls for financial support aimed at enriching the knowledge base of Africans on AI capabilities and functionalities.
As disclosed in the document, the AU Executive Council backed the adoption of AI in the public and private sectors of African countries, among other proposals.
Here are the fifteen action areas proposed by the adopted strategy:
The Continental AI Strategy proposes a five-year timeframe between 2025 and 2030 for implementing the actions in the fifteen areas, and it will be implemented in two phases:
Phase One (2025 to 2026) will focus on the creation of necessary governance frameworks, national AI strategies, resource mobilization activities, and building capacities at the AU, RECs, specialized agencies, and Member States.
Phase two will focus on the implementation of core projects and actions of the continental AI strategy.
According to the document, only six countries (Algeria, Benin, Egypt, Mauritius, Rwanda, and Senegal) have developed stand-alone AI strategies as of July 2024.
Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda are said to be “addressing AI in combination with other emerging technologies, such as blockchain, or in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
Meanwhile, the AU observed that other countries, such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda, have taken significant steps to define AI policies and establish institutions to drive AI development.
The adoption is a follow-up on the AU’s call for developing countries to have increased representation and influence within global Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance structures.
TheWitness previously reported that the AU Mission to the United Nations (UN) disclosed this during a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) three months ago.
This endorsed strategy is expected to constitute Africa’s contribution to the Global Digital Compact and the United Nations Summit of the Future in September 2024.
The committee submitted the strategy to the African Union Executive Council in July 2024 for consideration and final adoption in line with AU rules and regulations.
The development is coming after a pan-African telecom company, MTN Group, and Huawei Technologies collaborated to build a technology innovation lab aimed at accelerating digital transformation and sustainable development across Africa.
The Nigerian government is also looking forward to digital transformation across the nation.
Some months back, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, visited SecureID Limited’s state-of-the-art facilities, commending the firm’s role in Nigeria’s digital transformation.
