Data labellers fight for rights; Google to open Johannesburg Cloud region

Africa AI News weekly digest...

Good morning, and welcome to this week’s issue of Africa AI News – Weekly News Digest.

A quiet week for AI in Africa. Many are still digesting the news of Microsoft’s R280-m investment announcement, starting to ask the tough questions. The other global multinationals have been quiet … with the possibility of some one-upmanship and keeping up with the Hyperscaler Joneses giving politicians a bounce in their steps.

There is a paucity of good application stories as usual — probably because most AI startups don’t have PR companies. But send us some bullet points of what you’ve been up to.We’ll write it up for you and publish, and you can use it wherever. Free PR!

And now, on with this week’s issue!

/Roger

---

Policy

Kenya's Data Labellers fight for more respect

#Kenya #TechIndustry — The newly formed Data Labelers Association in Kenya seeks fair pay and improved working conditions for AI workers. Many data labelers, who train AI systems for global tech companies, face exploitative wages and mental health challenges because of the content they often work with despite their vital role in powering AI technologies. (Computer Weekly)

85% of African businesses plan to implement AI by 2029

#Africa #adoption — A survey of 750 CEOs, CTOs, and CIOs found that 85% of African businesses (we assume “corporate businesses”) plan to invest in AI within the next 3-5 years. Kenya and Egypt are leading AI adoption, while South Africa shows more cautious investment. Cybersecurity is a primary driver for this technology, says publisher of the report, security tech vendor Fortinet, because of course. (TechSmart)

Zimbabwe commits to ethical AI usage with transparency

#Zimbabwe #ethics — Zimbabwe has pledged to embrace responsible AI usage, prioritising transparency, fairness, and inclusivity. During a recent workshop, government officials emphasised the importance of addressing ethical implications, including data privacy and accountability, as part of the country’s AI readiness efforts. (The Herald)

AI technology in Africa's refugee crisis: the PSC's role

#Africa #refugees — The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) aims to harness AI for better monitoring of, and early warning systems to protect, refugees and asylum seekers. Key initiatives include using AI for conflict prevention and enhancing border surveillance without violating human rights, drawing on lessons from countries like Somalia and Uganda. (Accord)

Markets

Egypt AI training datasets market to hit $76.5M by 2032

#Egypt #trainingdata — The Egyptian AI Training Datasets Market is projected to grow from $8.22 million in 2023 to $76.5 million by 2032, driven by the rapid adoption of AI across sectors like healthcare, finance, and retail. Government initiatives and demand for Arabic language datasets are key drivers. Full report behind paywall, but lots of info in the public post. (Credence Research)

India, Mauritius AI collaboration falls under ‘MAHASAGAR’

#India #Mauritius #bilaterals — India and Mauritius have elevated ties to an ‘enhanced strategic partnership’, signing eight agreements covering maritime security, trade, and AI-driven human development. As part of the MAHASAGAR initiative, India will provide technology, concessional loans, and grants to boost regional cooperation. (CNBC TV18)

Applications

PROMPTS service reaches 3 million women in Kenya

#Kenya #healthtech — An AI-powered text messaging service, PROMPTS, has helped three million Kenyan women access maternal and newborn healthcare. Developed by Jacaranda Health, the free Swahili-language service is expanding to Eswatini, Ghana, and Nigeria with support from The Rockefeller Foundation. (Rockefeller Foundation)

The pros and cons of AI in a Just Energy Transition

#Africa #report #energy #JET — A new analysis of the impact of AI on the “Just Energy Transition” to move the world from fossil fuels to renewables has been published by Research ICT Africa. AI provides enormous data analytics capabilities, assisting in everything from site assessment, procurement through to supply/demand prediction and management. However: it needs vastly more technical resources, as well as systems generating the telemetry the AI will feed on. (Research ICT Africa)

Innovation

BongoHive launches AI Lab to boost Zambia’s tech ecosystem

#Zambia #labs – Zambia’s first innovation hub, BongoHive, has launched an AI Lab to accelerate AI adoption in the country, addressing gaps in AI expertise and fostering innovation in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and finance. The initiative was developed with the Zambia ICT Authority and Ubuntu AI Community. (LinkedIn)

LLMs

Egypt’s Widebot raises $3M to build Arabic LLM

#Egypt #Saudi #Arabic — Riyadh-based Egyptian AI startup Widebot has secured $3 million in pre-Series A funding to develop “AQL Mind”, a large language model tailored to Arabic. The model will enhance Arabic dialect and accent understanding, targeting government and business applications in Saudi Arabia. (Daba Finance)

Ajala.ai unveils voice recognition for Nigerian Pidgin English

#Nigeria #voice — Ajala.ai expands its voice recognition services to include Nigerian Pidgin English, achieving a 6% Word Error Rate (WER) for great accuracy. This adds to its growing range of AI-powered language solutions tailored for the African market. The company also supports languages such as Yoruba, Igbo, and Kiswahili. (IT News Africa)

Education

Morocco launches AI, digital skills programme for children

#Morocco #school – Morocco has launched a national initiative to introduce children to AI and digital technology as part of its Morocco Digital 2030 strategy. A framework agreement was signed in Rabat with key government officials and UM6P to build a digital ecosystem. (Morocco World News)

Data Centres

Google to launch Africa cloud region in March

#SouthAfrica #datacentre — Google’s Africa Cloud region will launch next week, 19 March. The local data centre will support its business customers, especially heavily regulated industries with strict data sovereignty laws, with data analytics services like BigQuery and Ai foundational tech emphasised. This was pre-announced by its South African partner, Digicloud. (ITWeb Africa)

Microsoft's R5.4bn AI investment in South Africa faces scrutiny

#SouthAfrica #datacentres — After the dust settled on Microsoft’s announcement of a R5.4 billion investment to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in South Africa, analysts are asking tough questions over energy constraints, digital inequality and real economic impact. Critics question the viability of large data centres amid existing power shortages, as well as the ambitious but unverified job creation figures.
(Daily Maverick)

Defence

Ethiopia launches large-scale drone manufacturing

#Ethiopia #drones — Ethiopia has inaugurated Sky Wing Industry, marking its entry into large-scale drone production for defence and civilian use. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed highlighted the nation’s growing tech capabilities, with AI-powered UAVs designed for security and export. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology while strengthening national defence. (Military Africa)

Events

TUT hosts top AI researchers to tackle societal challenges

#SouthAfrica #events — Top AI researchers from South Africa, France, Switzerland, and Greece gathered at Tshwane University of Technology to explore AI solutions addressing societal challenges. The seminar, held from 4–5 March, focused on AI's potential in sectors like healthcare, farming, and telecommunications, with TUT's AI Hub leading the charge for innovation. (Tshwane University of Technology)

Seminar: bridging the NLP gap for low-resource languages

#SouthAfrica #LLM #NLP — To be presented by Dr. Idris Abdulmumin of the University of Pretoria on 19 March. Much of the research in NLP focuses on high-resource languages, leaving low-resource languages underrepresented. He will highlight key projects that have emotion tagging: BRIGHTER, AfriHate, and a decolonized scientific dataset aimed at improving emotion recognition, hate speech detection, and accessible scientific knowledge in African languages. (Google Groups)

[ This newsletter was human researched and AI written ]