The African Union(AU) Executive session is set to be held in Ghana between July 18 and 19, 2024, for deliberation on the “Continental Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy” and “African Digital Compact”.
The strategy was unanimously endorsed by the African ICT and Communications Ministers of the AU, last month, among others.
This was disclosed by the AU via its X page on Tuesday, July 17, 2024, ahead of the final adoption of the strategy.
The strategy is aimed at accelerating “Africa’s digital transformation” by unlocking the potential of the new digital technologies in Nigeria and other African countries.
TheWitness previously reported that over 130 African ministers and experts virtually convened between June 11 to 13, 2024 for the AU 2nd Extraordinary session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Communication and ICT.
The meeting was aimed at igniting digital transformation across the continent amidst rapid evolutions in the sector fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) technology and applications.
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.
To 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 in 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.
The AU disclosed on Tuesday that its executive session will deliberate on these new developments prior to final adoption.
It stated that the move is aimed at identifying key priorities and actions to ensure that Africa fully benefits from the huge opportunities AI offers.
It added that the strategy calls for an Africa-owned, people-centered, development-oriented, and inclusive approach to accelerate African countries’ AI capabilities in infrastructure, talent, datasets, innovation, and partnerships while also ensuring adequate safeguards and protection from threats.
“At the conclusion of each Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, a Declaration will be adopted, ” AU noted.
The meeting 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), had disclosed this during a Special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), two 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 will submit 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.
