PHUMLA MKIZE
With artificial intelligence (AI) applications 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.
While AI is expected to spur employment opportunities in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria in just six years, the study has found that many Sub-Saharan countries were less ready to take advantage of the economic activities that could be brought through the adoption of AI.
The study, conducted by the TUT AI Hub in partnership with Intel entitled “A Study on the AI Landscape of Universities in Africa”, reviewed the state of AI readiness at universities in Africa. Its aim was to gain a deeper understanding of the progress countries were making in training the workforce with skills needed for the future. The study took into account academic programmes offered in AI, research and development activities, and current funders among other indicators.
Authored by Acting Director of the TUT Hub of the Artificial Intelligence Institute of South Africa, Professor Anish Kurien, and Intel’s Director of Government Affairs in Africa, Dr Bienvenu Agbokponto Soglo, the study also provides indicators on the readiness of the continent to equip its workforce with AI skills.
The TUT study comes on the back of research published by Access Partnership and Google in 2023, projecting that AI applications could support up to $136-billion-worth of economic benefits for South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
Though South Africa is hard at work developing a framework for AI, it lags behind countries such as Morocco, Mauritius, Rwanda and Senegal in terms of policy and regulation.
Kurien highlighted that to drive economies in a country, there needs to be appropriate human capital development strategies in AI nationally.
“So, to say you have an AI workforce, how do you get that workforce? You need to train them and make them ready for the workplace. What we did in the study was to gauge how ready Africa was in terms of training, research and development, and investment in AI,” said Kurien.
He said the study considered four regions in the continent (north, south, east and west) with key countries within each region selected to study the state of readiness.
The study found that in general, pure AI programmes at undergraduate level are limited across the continent. Most programmes in AI are within the computer science environment. The study further found that AI-centric programmes mainly reside within Master’s level programmes across Africa, including in South Africa. There is thus an urgency to create new programmes at undergraduate level to drive the development of skills in AI.
South Africa currently has five public universities that offer AI-centric Master’s degree courses, demonstrating a positive step towards AI preparedness. In addition, TUT along with the University of Johannesburg, the Central University of Technology, and the Military Academy in Saldanha Bay and the University of Stellenbosch are part of the national initiative of creating AI capacity. The four universities are home to four of the current AI Hubs of the AIISA, whose aim is to transform the workforce in South Africa through AI technologies.
The AIISA is an initiative of the national Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, which was formed as one of the recommendations of the Presidential Commission Report on 4IR.
Explaining the role of the hubs, Prof Kurien said for South Africa to implement the national agenda of creating AI capacity to drive the economy, it needs to provide training for the workforce. He said the government was using the AIISA as a mechanism at national level to drive economic development in AI.
He said TUT has a keen interest in looking for AI-based solutions for the agricultural, healthcare, education, and motor-manufacturing sectors.
Kurien dismissed the myth that AI is going to increase unemployment.
“It is a new era of a new revolution, but in that there is an opportunity to create more jobs. The machines need to be created; you need human intervention for that. And for all of that to happen, there will be new categories of jobs created for this new era,” he said.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.