AI Expo Africa nears; Zambia to open 2nd AI CoE

Africa AI News weekly digest...

Good morning!

Welcome to the zero edition of Africa AI News - your new weekly news digest rounding up AI and emerging tech news from across the continent!

It’s almost time for AI Expo Africa! The 7th edition of the expo and conference takes place next week in Sandton. Meanwhile, South Africa and Nigeria have ranked first and second among the top 10 African countries for the highest number of AI firms; Zambia is to create its second AI centre of excellence; and Raxio Group will open its first data centre in Mozambique.

Scroll down for more news!

By the way, Africa AI News is the new sister platform of Middle East AI News, the top source for news and insight on how AI is transforming the Middle East.

Thanks for reading!

/Roger

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Events

AI Expo Africa to open 7th Edition next week

#RSA #events - Africa’s largest AI & Intelligent Automation event, AI Expo Africa will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, 30-31 October 2024. More than 100 AI companies will take part. (AI Expo Africa)

Market

Nigeria ranks second among top 10 African countries for AI firms

#Nigeria #RSA #market - South Africa and Nigeria have been placed first and second among the top 10 African countries with the highest number of AI firms, according to the Centre of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law. According to the centre there are about 2,400 AI firms in Africa with 40 per cent being startups (Business Day)

Data Centres

Raxio Group to open $290 million data centre in Mozambique

#Mozambique #datacentres - Raxio Group, a data centre company backed by global investor Meridiam Infrastructure Partners SAS and US private equity firm Roha Group, is opening its first facility in Mozambique as part of its $290 million investment strategy in Africa. (Data Center Knowledge)

CoEs

Zambia to create second AI centre of excellence

#Zambia #innovation - Zambia is establishing a second AI Centre of Excellence in Lusaka, according to the Minister of Science and Technology Felix Mutati. The announcement follows the launch of an AI CoE in collaboration with Google last month. (We Are Tech)

Education

Lagos to train one million studens in AI

#Nigeria #training - Lagos State government intends to train over one million students from state-owned tertiary institutions in AI and other digital technologies. The Digital Capabilities Skills initiative aims to improve students' skills and prepare them for the global job market. (IT Web Africa)

Ethiopia trains 31,000 in coding

#Ethiopia #UAE #training - 31,000 citizens have been trained in coding within three months under the 5 Million Ethiopian Coders initiative. More than 246,000 citizens have enrolled in the training initiative, which was launched in cooperation with the UAE in July. (We Are Tech Africa)

TUT, Intel study assesses Africa’s readiness to upskill its workforce

#RSA #training - Although AI is set to give a $136-billion (R2.3-trillion) boost to the economies of four African countries by 2030, a study by the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has found South Africa to be among the least technologically ready to exploit the opportunities. Download PDF. (TUT)

Innovation

Ethiopian Ministry of Justice and EAII sign crime system MoU

#Ethiopia #crime - The Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute (EAII) has signed an MOU with the Ministry of Justice to establish an Integrated Crime Information Management System. To be available in multiple languages, the system would provide citizens with easy access and track their cases from any location. (EAII)

Sentiment

East African CEOs positive on GenAI

#Tanzania #GenAI - CEOs in East Africa are positive on GenAI amid economic uncertainty, according to the 2024 KPMG East Africa and Africa CEO Outlook report. 12% of CEOs view GenAI as a means to enhance profitability, compared to 16 percent of CEOs across Africa and 10 percent globally. Download PDF. (The Guardian)

Agriculture

Malawi launches app to identify plant diseases

#Malawi #farming - Tech entrepreneur and software engineer Kondwani Nantchito has developed a new AI app enables farmers to swiftly detect plant diseases using only a smartphone camera, transforming access to agricultural expertise in Malawi. (IT Web Africa)

Regulation

South African AI body calls for LinkedIn data violations probe

#RSA #dataprotection - The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA) has asked the Information Regulator to investigate LinkedIn's new data use practice, for potential violations of local personal information protection law. The social media platform is allegedly processing user data to train GenAI models without getting consent from users. (News24)