Unlocking Opportunities: Navigating the AI Policy Landscape in Africa with Intel and TUT

By Dr. Bienvenu Agbokponto Soglo, Director, Government Affairs Africa & IGA CTO Liaison (PE), Intel

Understanding the artificial intelligence (AI) policy environment in Africa is crucial for navigating the rapidly evolving technological landscape on the continent and serves as an important step for Intel’s larger goal of bringing AI everywhere. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into various aspects of society, ranging from healthcare and agriculture to finance and governance, it is essential to have a comprehensive grasp of the regulatory frameworks and guidelines. By understanding the AI policy environment in Africa, stakeholders can identify opportunities for innovation, anticipate potential challenges, and ensure that AI technology is developed and deployed responsibly and ethically.

At Intel, we seek to ensure a regulatory and policy environment that facilitates the adoption of AI, advocate for AI policy measures that are risk and principles-based, reduce the compliance burden to the strictly necessary and leverage internationally accepted standards. Intel is committed to collaborating with governments, businesses, and civil society to harness the transformative potential of AI.

As stated in the “State of AI in Africa” report, the continent is at a massive turning point considering the impact of AI. Providing support for AI in Africa makes the region ripe with opportunities for a better future. According to the Intel report on Evaluating the African Deep Tech Spin-off Ecosystem - From the Lab to Market, DeepTech is fundamental to digital transformation and development; and represents the latest wave of innovations expected to fuel the next industrial revolution across the African continent.

According to McKinsey & Company, capabilities in AI that include machine learning, computer vision, and natural language processing enable companies globally in all industries to derive better insights into the automation of processes, the addition or augmentation of capabilities, and the ability to make better decisions. McKinsey estimated that the potential economic value at stake from applied AI is between $17 trillion and $26 trillion, and the share of companies pursuing that value is increasing.

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and Intel recently published a study that aims to provide a clear understanding of the value of AI and its role in African universities, an overview of areas of research and development for AI within higher-education institutions, the status of national AI policy in selected countries, and an impact analysis of how AI contributes to the African University landscape.

Some of the key findings of this study include:

• Most regions provide training in a broad spectrum of AI-related topics such as machine learning, computer vision, data analytics, big data, robotics, natural language processing, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things at the universities sampled.
• Several universities in South Africa partner with various Global Industrial Partners such as Intel, Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and IBM as part of their activities in conducting AI research. In partnership with the TUT Hub of the Artificial Intelligence Institute of South Africa (AI-ISA), Intel has partnered with TUT to develop an Intel Career Tech centre based at TUT’s Pretoria West campus to focus on adopting the Intel AI for Future Workforce program.
• Key reforms need to take place at higher education institutions in Africa to consider new curriculum for AI to meet the growing demands for capacity development, experimental programmes that expose students to the rapidly changing AI landscape and preparing universities for lifelong learning including executive courses. In addition, indicators such as developing academic programmes in AI, the extension of R&D in AI, overall support for startups, spin-offs and the DeepTech ecosystem could be used to rank leading African higher education institutions in AI.
• Challenges for AI for higher education in Africa include access to high-speed internet and electricity, incentives to retain AI experts in Africa and cost of investment in AI infrastructure. It is worth noting that, in December 2023, Intel introduced the AI PC which provides a dedicated AI engine that offers power-efficient AI acceleration and local inference on the PC; and this provides tremendous benefits from the perspective of required infrastructure investments making AI training more affordable.
• Prospects of AI for higher education in Africa include developing AI-specific programmes and skills training, contributing to startups and the DeepTech ecosystem for continued economic growth, stimulating investments and driving government strategies and policy.

Intel’s various workforce development programs such as the AI for Future Workforce program, the Intel AI Programme for African DeepTech Startups & Ecosystem Stakeholders, the Intel® Liftoff Hackathon for African AI Startups, and the Intel Community Reach Program help create a favorable environment for African universities to develop their AI curriculum, support the DeepTech startups and spin-off ecosystem and unleash their potential to contribute to the growth of AI in the continent.

To learn more about the findings and recommendations of this study please check out the link to the study here: