Latest news with #GlobalAISummitonAfrica
Arab News
05-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi governor of Digital Government Authority met Rwandan minister
Ahmed Alsuwaiyan, governor of the Digital Government Authority, recently met with Paula Ingabire, Rwandan minister of information and communications technology and innovation, at the Global AI Summit on Africa. During their meeting, they discussed the Riyadh AI Declaration, ways to foster growth in the digital economy, and approaches to strengthen collaboration between Saudi Arabia and Rwanda, the organization wrote in a post on X. The governor also met with Ghana's Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Samuel George, and discussed opportunities for cooperation in harnessing AI technologies in digital government.
Al Etihad
05-04-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
UAE participates in Global AI Summit on Africa in Rwanda
5 Apr 2025 18:20 KIGALI (WAM)In line with the UAE's vision to establish itself as a global hub for artificial intelligence and to strengthen international partnerships, the country participated in Global AI Summit on Africa, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from April 3 to 4. This reflects the UAE's ongoing commitment to supporting innovation and technological advancement for a prosperous and sustainable digital participation aimed to affirm the country's commitment to supporting innovation and technological development to create a prosperous and sustainable digital future. It also aimed to discuss the latest developments, innovations, and technologies in the field of artificial intelligence, exchange knowledge and expertise with various countries, and showcase investment opportunities in the UAE in the field of artificial intelligence and enhance cooperation with global to engage leading Emirati companies such as G42 and CPX in supporting these efforts were UAE delegation was headed by Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the UAE Government. The summit brought together more than 1,000 participants, including policymakers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors from over 95 countries, with the participation of over 100 AI companies. The summit aimed to accelerate AI innovation and align strategic policies to enhance Africa's AI capabilities to achieve competitiveness and inclusive summit also featured the launch of the Africa AI Council. The summit also featured several panel discussions and workshops, a showcase of more than 100 promising AI companies in Africa, and discussions on how to harness AI to create inclusive economic opportunities, encourage innovation, and improve workforce skills in the sidelines of the summit, Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, met with Mr. David Kanamugire, CEO of Rwanda's National Cybersecurity Authority, to discuss areas of cooperation in cybersecurity and digital transformation. The meeting addressed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in several vital areas, including protecting digital infrastructure, exchanging information on cyber threats, developing incident response mechanisms, and building national competencies and capabilities. The importance of data protection and raising cybersecurity levels was emphasized, especially with Rwanda's accelerating shift toward artificial intelligence and cloud computing, which requires a reliable and secure digital meeting also discussed the implementation of joint projects by Emirati companies in the fields of cybersecurity, secure artificial intelligence, and data analysis, which will enhance Rwanda's digital readiness and support the construction of a safe and sustainable technological environment that serves the development goals of both Al Kuwaiti emphasised that the UAE's participation in this global summit stems from its recognition of the need to unify regional and international efforts and enhance the exchange of expertise to ensure a more efficient response to current and future challenges in the field of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. He emphasised that the country's participation in these events falls within the directives of the country's wise leadership, may God protect them, and their continued support for digital transformation and digital economic development, as well as within the framework of ongoing cooperation between all the UAE institutions, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and artificial also emphasised that the UAE's participation reflects its global leadership in the field of artificial intelligence. He also highlighted the need to leverage the role of advanced technology in predicting risks, particularly through the use of advanced AI technologies, and the importance of deepening international cooperation to ensure a coordinated response to threats and crises at various Al Kuwaiti also met with Paula Ingabire, Rwanda's Minister of ICT and Innovation, to discuss strengthening cooperation in developing Rwanda's digital infrastructure and fostering innovation, highlighting both nations' commitment to knowledge exchange and building strategic partnerships for a tech-driven future. In addition, they discussed ways to enhance cooperation in developing Rwanda's digital infrastructure and promoting innovation. Dr. Al Kuwaiti also met with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, the meeting focused on exploring ways to harness artificial intelligence technologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as discussing preparations for the upcoming 'AI for Good' event, scheduled to be held in Geneva this July.
Zawya
05-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
African Union Champions Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Africa's Socioeconomic Transformation
Speaking at the High-Level Panel on Leadership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Global AI Summit on Africa, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized the AU's commitment to positioning Africa as a leader in the global AI revolution. He shared the stage with distinguished leaders, including:H.E. Paul Kagame, President, Republic of Rwanda; Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary, Republic of Kenya; H.E. Faure Gnassingbé, President, Republic of Togo; Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Group; and H.E. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union. H.E. Youssouf highlighted the AU's leadership in shaping Africa's AI-driven future, ensuring the continent is not just a participant but a frontrunner in the global AI transformation. With the adoption of the Continental AI Strategy, the AU has set a clear policy direction to integrate AI into Africa's development agenda, leveraging AI as a catalyst for economic growth, innovation, and inclusive digital transformation. Continental AI Strategy: A Roadmap for Transformation. Recently endorsed by the AU Executive Council, the Continental AI Strategy underscores Africa's commitment to leveraging AI for socioeconomic progress. This strategic framework establishes a foundation for AI governance and innovation at national, regional, and continental levels, fostering an ecosystem that is inclusive, sustainable, and resilient. Through its five-year Implementation Plan, the AU is supporting Member States to: Integrate AI into National Development Plans and establish harmonized national AI strategies. Develop policies to retain and attract AI talent, mitigating brain drain and fostering local expertise. Foster public-private partnerships to accelerate AI investments and industry-driven solutions. Prioritize AI adoption in key sectors such as governance, health, agriculture, and climate resilience. Enhance AI research and innovation ecosystems by supporting AI startups and enterprises. Implement legal and regulatory frameworks to safeguard against AI biases and misuse. Promote international and intra-Africa cooperation for AI capacity-building and development. AU's Role in Implementation H.E. Youssouf reiterated that the AU, through AUDA-NEPAD and its Specialized Institutions, is actively assisting Member States in implementing the strategy by: Providing technical assistance for AI policy development and governance frameworks. Organizing regional and continental dialogues to strengthen AI regulatory capacities. Advancing the AU Data Policy Framework, which enables African nations to manage, govern, and utilize data as a key enabler of AI innovation. Currently, 22 out of 35 interested nations are benefiting from AU-led technical support. AI and the African Continental Free Trade Area: A Digital Economy Game changer With the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Digital Trade Protocols, Africa's AI market is poised for exponential growth. AI is expected to play a pivotal role in digital trade, enhancing efficiency, fostering innovation, and generating new business opportunities for Africa's youth and entrepreneurs. As the global AI market is projected to reach USD 3.68 trillion by 2034, Africa must: • Align AI developments with the continent's economic agenda and digital transformation goals. • Invest in AI infrastructure, digital skills, and computing power to build competitive AI industries. • Create a harmonized regulatory environment to enable cross-border AI trade and investment. • Leverage Africa's rich and diverse datasets to fuel AI innovation and power global AI models. AI for Africa's Cultural and Linguistic Renaissance One of the key priorities for AI in Africa is to develop AI solutions that reflect African languages and cultural diversity. This is crucial to ensuring inclusive AI adoption and preventing digital exclusion. AI-driven innovations must serve all Africans, facilitating equitable participation in the digital economy. Conclusion In closing, H.E. Youssouf reaffirmed the African Union's commitment to advancing Africa-centric AI solutions, ensuring that AI serves as a force for sustainable development, economic inclusion, and technological sovereignty. Through collaborative leadership, strategic partnerships, and a shared vision for the future, Africa is poised to thrive in the Age of AI. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union (AU).
Egypt Independent
03-04-2025
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Africa's first ‘AI factory' could be a breakthrough for the continent
CNN — There's excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the There's excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa , which opens today, promising economic opportunities and innovation. Not least because of last week's announcement from Cassava Technologies, a tech firm founded by Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, that it would be building Africa's first 'artificial intelligence factory,' in partnership with leading AI chipmaker Nvidia. Nvidia's supercomputers, which use graphic processing units, or GPUs, (the chips that often power AI), will be deployed at Cassava's data centers in South Africa from as early as June, before being rolled out across the company's other facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Africa has fallen behind the global AI boom due in part to a lack of computing power. Analysis from Zindi, a community of 80,000 AI builders across 52 African countries, found that only five percent of Africa's AI practitioners have access to computational power for research and innovation. Better access to GPUs will help to 'drive the AI revolution' across the continent, says Alex Tsado, founder and director of Alliance4AI, a non-profit that helps African institutions adopt emerging technologies. Currently, there are no big GPU clusters in Africa and this is holding innovators back: 'If you don't have access to GPUs, it takes you many more hours, if not days, to build the same solutions (or AI systems) than it would take someone else who is in a place where they do have access (like the US or Europe),' he tells CNN. 'People start to see more reasons to gather data, because now they can process it; people start to see more reasons to train talent, because now there's GPUs … (It) triggers the ecosystem to accelerate all the progress that they've already been making.' While Cassava is yet to divulge details of its deployment plan, it said in a press release that Nvidia's GPU-based supercomputers will enable faster AI model training and that the data centers will ensure businesses and researchers have access to the AI computing power required to build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment. 'Our AI factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs — and now, they don't have to look beyond Africa to get it,' said Masiyiwa in the press release. Democratizing AI The high cost of hardware relative to income levels in Africa has been one of the main barriers to AI adoption. Some of Nvidia's most powerful GPUs sell for as much as $40,000. According to AI4D, an African AI development program, the price of buying a GPU in Kenya represents 75% of GDP per capita, making it 31 times more expensive than one in Germany, in relative terms. This has led to a heavy reliance on foreign cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure – but these too are expensive, since it costs more, and takes longer, to transmit data between geographical regions. For Zindi's network of AI builders, the development of local data centers with Nvidia GPU-powered supercomputers will be a 'game-changer,' according to Celina Lee, its CEO and co-founder. 'By establishing Africa-based AI infrastructure, 'Zindians' would benefit from more affordable compute resources, faster access to AI tools, and lower latency, making it easier to develop and deploy AI models efficiently,' she says. Nvidia's graphic processing units (GPUs) enable the training and deployment of complex AI models. Joel Sagat/AFP/Getty Images Use of Nvidia's cutting-edge technology – the same that is used by OpenAI, Tesla, Meta, Google and other tech giants – will be a great equalizer, she adds: 'This would democratize AI development, strengthen local AI ecosystems, and drive innovation across industries like agriculture, healthcare, and financial services, enabling more homegrown solutions tailored to Africa's unique challenges.' It could also help to increase Africa's representation in global AI training datasets. Currently, African languages and dialects are underrepresented due to a lack of data and there are often biases in training data, such as facial recognition systems that struggle with darker skin tones. 'With increased access to AI infrastructure, African practitioners could train models using local datasets that better represent diverse demographics, economic systems, and environments,' says Lee. Tsado notes that there are still questions around how Cassava will overcome infrastructure challenges when building the factories – for instance Africa's unreliable power grids, which have put people off doing this earlier. And beyond access to GPUs there are still challenges with African end users running AI models efficiently because of their reliance on lower-grade smartphones with limited access to internet apps, says Lee. But both agree that Cassava's move is a big step in the right direction. 'This is a very welcome boost that Africa's big tech is finally joining the African AI communities … and spending some money on GPUs,' says Tsado. 'Strive (Masiyiwa)'s announcement is the first big public commitment that's been made, and it can trigger other people like him to do the same.'
CNN
03-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
Africa's first ‘AI factory' could be a breakthrough for the continent
There's excitement bubbling in Kigali, Rwanda, ahead of the Global AI Summit on Africa, which opens today, promising economic opportunities and innovation. Not least because of last week's announcement from Cassava Technologies, a tech firm founded by Zimbabwean telecoms billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, that it would be building Africa's first 'artificial intelligence factory,' in partnership with leading AI chipmaker Nvidia. Nvidia's supercomputers, which use graphic processing units, or GPUs, (the chips that often power AI), will be deployed at Cassava's data centers in South Africa from as early as June, before being rolled out across the company's other facilities in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Africa has fallen behind the global AI boom due in part to a lack of computing power. Analysis from Zindi, a community of 80,000 AI builders across 52 African countries, found that only 5% of Africa's AI practitioners have access to computational power for research and innovation. Better access to GPUs will help to 'drive the AI revolution' across the continent, says Alex Tsado, founder and director of Alliance4AI, a non-profit that helps African institutions adopt emerging technologies. Currently, there are no big GPU clusters in Africa and this is holding innovators back: 'If you don't have access to GPUs, it takes you many more hours, if not days, to build the same solutions (or AI systems) than it would take someone else who is in a place where they do have access (like the US or Europe),' he tells CNN. 'People start to see more reasons to gather data, because now they can process it; people start to see more reasons to train talent, because now there's GPUs … (It) triggers the ecosystem to accelerate all the progress that they've already been making.' While Cassava is yet to divulge details of its deployment plan, it said in a press release that Nvidia's GPU-based supercomputers will enable faster AI model training and that the data centers will ensure businesses and researchers have access to the AI computing power required to build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment. 'Our AI factory provides the infrastructure for this innovation to scale, empowering African businesses, startups and researchers with access to cutting-edge AI infrastructure to turn their bold ideas into real-world breakthroughs — and now, they don't have to look beyond Africa to get it,' said Masiyiwa in the press release. The high cost of hardware relative to income levels in Africa has been one of the main barriers to AI adoption. Some of Nvidia's most powerful GPUs sell for as much as $40,000. According to AI4D, an African AI development program, the price of buying a GPU in Kenya represents 75% of GDP per capita, making it 31 times more expensive than one in Germany, in relative terms. This has led to a heavy reliance on foreign cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure – but these too are expensive, since it costs more, and takes longer, to transmit data between geographical regions. For Zindi's network of AI builders, the development of local data centers with Nvidia GPU-powered supercomputers will be a 'game-changer,' according to Celina Lee, its CEO and co-founder. 'By establishing Africa-based AI infrastructure, 'Zindians' would benefit from more affordable compute resources, faster access to AI tools, and lower latency, making it easier to develop and deploy AI models efficiently,' she says. Use of Nvidia's cutting-edge technology – the same that is used by OpenAI, Tesla, Meta, Google and other tech giants – will be a great equalizer, she adds: 'This would democratize AI development, strengthen local AI ecosystems, and drive innovation across industries like agriculture, healthcare, and financial services, enabling more homegrown solutions tailored to Africa's unique challenges.' It could also help to increase Africa's representation in global AI training datasets. Currently, African languages and dialects are underrepresented due to a lack of data and there are often biases in training data, such as facial recognition systems that struggle with darker skin tones. 'With increased access to AI infrastructure, African practitioners could train models using local datasets that better represent diverse demographics, economic systems, and environments,' says Lee. Tsado notes that there are still questions around how Cassava will overcome infrastructure challenges when building the factories – for instance Africa's unreliable power grids, which have put people off doing this earlier. And beyond access to GPUs there are still challenges with African end users running AI models efficiently because of their reliance on lower-grade smartphones with limited access to internet apps, says Lee. But both agree that Cassava's move is a big step in the right direction. 'This is a very welcome boost that Africa's big tech is finally joining the African AI communities … and spending some money on GPUs,' says Tsado. 'Strive (Masiyiwa)'s announcement is the first big public commitment that's been made, and it can trigger other people like him to do the same.'
