Event focuses on how AI can help Africa to prosper

Artificial intelligence has the potential to help young people in Africa and around the world grow and prosper at school, in the workplace and in their communities.

Applied in an ethical and responsible way, it has the capability to promote inclusive education and job creation in a way never seen before.

Those opportunities – along with how governments can support innovative AI ecosystems – were themes that emerged at an event hosted today by the Global Business Coalition for Education in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.

In the spirit of multi-sector collaboration, Harnessing AI for the Future of Africa was attended by leaders from business, government, academia, and civil society. It focused on the growing potential and possibility for AI in Africa, where there are more than 650 million youth. By 2030, 75% of the continent’s population will be under 35, making up 42% of the global youth population.

The event was held against the backdrop of the African Union’s “Year of Education”, designed to accelerate progress towards achieving education goals and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Sarah Brown, Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, said: “AI has already been transforming how we live, learn and work. AI-based tools can impact education, create employment for youth in underserved areas, and connect them to global opportunities in tech and other fields.

“The question we pose today is, when used responsibly can AI promote rapid inclusivity and address issues on the continent related to education, employment, skills and overall development? And are we ready?”

The event was sponsored by two members of the Global Business Coalition for Education – Dell Technologies and Google Education.

Justin van Fleet, CEO of the Global Business Coalition for Education, introduced William Florance, head of Multilateral Partnerships for Education at Google – which provides educational and online tools for teachers and students. He said: “We are very happy to be officially part of the coalition and look forward to collaborating with others and expanding our impact in Africa.”

Justin then introduced Jamila Cowan, Director Customer and Regional Sustainability and ESG at Dell Technologies, who said the company has a history of working with youth-focused organizations globally to empower the future workforce and create new opportunities.

She said: “In our fast-paced world it is critically important for young people to have the skills for the jobs. Dell’s purpose goes beyond the technology – we need make sure young people have the confidence to use the technology.”

Dell Technologies had its AI-based job interview tool on show at the event and also brought along young people who its team works with in the United States and South Africa.

A panel discussion, moderated by Uzodinma Iweala, Chief Executive Officer of The Africa Center, featured stakeholders who are shaping the AI dialogue in Africa. They shared their perspectives on the opportunities and key considerations, including the best use of AI and challenges associated with tech-based learning in areas where connectivity and access are ongoing issues

The panel featured two government ministers – His Excellency Dr Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Her Excellency Salima Bah, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Communication, Technology and Innovation.

Dr Bosun Tijani said: “What we are doing is almost shaping and building a new future for humanity. This technology now influences how we act and think. AI can help you understand how to best use your resources.

“The quality and quantity of teachers is a challenge in Africa – but today with AI we can do a lot more personalized learning and augmented training for teachers.

“We need to ensure that country leaders have an understanding of what is happening. We must engage governments and teachers – in Nigeria we have to come up with a national AI strategy.”

He said Nigeria is striving to make 70% of young people digitally literate.

Salimah Bah said: “AI technology gives Africa a massive opportunity to catch up and leapfrog some of the most developed countries. But if we don’t set up infrastructure to leverage this, it could further widen the digital divide.

“We have to improve literacy and numeracy for people to be able to utilize technology. We have an agenda for every school in Sierra Leone to be connected to the internet – but we need to ensure that is meaningful and preparing children for the new digital age.”

Also on the panel was Rapelang Rabana, Co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide, who is a tech entrepreneur and innovator in South Africa. Imagine Worldwide has embraced a technology-based learning platform that reaches children even in remote areas where basic internet connectivity is a challenge.

She said she was very optimistic about AI but added: “We need to build the highways to allow the AI of the future to work. We need holistic solutions for AI in the classroom, providing devices that work by solar and offline.

“We do extensive community engagements because there is a cultural journey for people to become comfortable with the technologies.

“We work with governments to take pilots to scale. They map out all the capabilities that are need to make it work. Political support is key but we also needed to win over the technocrats and communities on the ground.”

The fourth panelist was Sam Miller, Director of Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator. The DeepMind initiative is conducting breakthrough research into the possibilities of AI, creating tools and research that are poised to impact young people across Africa.

She said: “At DeepMind when it comes to education, we spend a lot of time with school systems, parents, children, teachers and governments to understand what the roadblocks are getting in the way of quality education.

“All that feedback comes back into our research organizations and is fed into our models. Then we go out and test and work with experts and communities.

“The fact that AI is such a powerful tool already shows there is an opportunity to use it to take forward our communities to the next level. What makes us extremely optimistic is that leaders want to solve the problem – they need the tools to do it.”

All guests at the event held table discussions, focused on how prepared we are as a global community to embrace AI as a tool for education and the workplace.

Justin van Fleet concluded the event by saying: “If we really want to harness AI to create opportunities for young people, it will require collaboration and to reimagine what education and jobs for the future will be like.”