Africa in an AI Era: Is the Continent Poised for Growth or Hindrance?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a body of machines or systems that mimic human cognitive functions such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Examples of AI include virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa on your smartphone or Elon Musk’s Tesla. In an African context, these may include Nuru, Tanzania’s AI-assisted mobile app that utilises Swahili to prevent cassava-based ailments and a growing number of AI-assisted technologies making lives easier and more efficient in cities such as Kigali’s Smart Cities or Nairobi’s burgeoning surveillance system. The AI revolution has already happened in Africa!

With 17% of the world’s population, the majority young, Africa is a force to reckon with. This demographic advantage makes it a critical player in the AI domain both in market terms and crucially in terms of geopolitical leverage. This is true because technology and power are inseparable in a politically divided world. The past few years have seen Africa as the strategic choice for the AI crowd because of the unique value the continent offers to an AI-powered planet i.e. its young, vibrant population who, despite the resource constraints, yearns for a prosperous and just society that is anchored on innovation not discrimination, on human cause not colours. This is good for Africa and the world.

The AI revolution and its projected benefits are in the words of Abdullahi Tsanni, a Nigerian Science Journalist, tantalising. We learn that in just four African countries - Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana, Africa could reap well up to? $136 billion worth of economic benefits if businesses fully embrace the AI revolution. This move is imperative for sustainable growth. In the view of Lilian Barnard, President of Microsoft Africa, ‘embracing the transformative power of AI is central to our vision for Africa’s future.’ In Barnard’s words, this matters partly because AI-driven growth presents real tangible economic transformation for a continent poised for change, an estimate Barnard reveals,? stands at a whopping $1.5 trillion in gross terms.

But this development is conditioned on the continent playing smart to the demands of an AI-driven global economy. Similar to all other development concerns in today’s Africa, the challenge has often been ‘fit’ not the potential. Africa is already embracing AI machinery. Indeed, Africa has no choice but to embrace it. However, the continent’s usual bottlenecks abound: legal and policy environments though emerging are faced with the implementability challenge. While participating in an AI-organised talk last week here in Oxford, I learned that the African Union’s recent Draft White Paper on AI though a fascinating step in the right direction faces insurmountable challenges. That is, regulating AI in a continent with disjointed legal infrastructures, and almost non-existent digital infrastructures is a tall order.

In his riveting lecture to a largely African audience in Oxford’s Said Business School, Prof. Vukosi Marivate, an African AI guru highlighted the bumpy road ahead in ‘The African AI That We Want’ talk. While in support of the ‘Africanization of AI data’ Prof. Vukosi remarked that ‘Africa cannot just be a cheap data market and AI consumer’ calling for a continental-wide effort to integrate Africa into the AI system in a manner that respects its rich values, and traditional systems. He stressed that ‘data is about people’ and not ‘just about market.’ This pan-Africanist call is echoed in Barnard’s impassioned plea for an Africa that develops through AI.

According to Barnard, collaboration is imperative in getting Africa into the AI race, especially regarding domestic buy-ins. This partnership with relevant stakeholders will ensure that ‘AI solutions are not just technologically advanced, but also culturally attuned and genuinely beneficial to African societies.’ This recognition though theoretical in light of Vukosi’s revelation, is encouraging for the continent. Regulating an African AI would mean addressing the pressing ethical concerns in the continent. This move may safeguard Africa’s AI adoption shielding the continent against external exploitation.

However, there are concerns about premature regulations, particularly in an uncertain industry such as AI. In their widely circulated paper, ‘Made in Africa: An African Perspective to the Design, Deployment and Governance of AI,’ Kenyan Technologist, Shikoh Gitau and colleagues argue that whereas regulation is critical in governing an African AI, it is not a priority at this stage. In their view, mass AI adoption and market penetration should guide the current stages of development, contending that premature regulation hinders innovation rather than fostering it. Utilising what they christened as ‘The Four Horsemen Model’ i.e. Data Sets and Data Systems, Digital Infrastructures, Talent and AI Markets, the authors advance that Africa’s AI hinges on nurturing these four horsemen, not regulatory callings.

In my view, this argument though persuasive is problematic as it tends to suggest that Africa is too disabled to regulate while it develops. If adopted, this idea would further throw the continent into an already contested global domain whose future is unknown. As echoed by Nyalleng Moorosi, an African-facing AI specialist, ‘If it works with people and works for people, then it has to be regulated.’To argue for a ‘wait and see’ approach is, therefore, a recipe for disasters.?