AI helps find huge copper mine; Kenyan data labelers unite
Africa AI News weekly digest...
Good morning, and welcome to Friday’s Africa AI News – Weekly News Digest.
Some strong signs of applications for AI settling down into clear use-cases - while the lion’s share is still on customer service chatbots using LLMs (albeit with some nice developments in local language models), the real core of AI in Africa is growing around its use in data analytics, for example in the mining sector, using AI to reduce the time it takes to process petabytes of satellite imagery and seismic data to find promising mineral deposits. And judging from the size of Zambia’s newly discovered copper reserves, the returns can be huge!
There were also some nice use cases for AI showcased at Microsoft’s AI Tour… chatbots, but also coding productivity and customer insights (see end of newsletter).
Plus a new national AI strategy has been announced for Namibia, but - as often seems to the case - no details are yet available. We’ll keep you posted!
And now, on with this week’s issue.
/Roger
Applications
AI helps find world’s third largest copper mine
#Zambia #mining — KoBold Metals from the US announced the discovery of the Mingomba site in Zambia, projected to be a world Top 10 producer by yield and copper grade. The company has focused on developing application-specific AI tech for the mining industry to chomp through the vast amount of field data that surveys generate in record time. KoBold is part owned by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with a who’s who of billionaire investors from Gates to Bezos, Andreesen to Bloomberg. (Mining.com)
Egyptian oil company accelerates drilling programmes with AI
#Egypt #oil&gas — The Egyptian General Petroleum Company (EGPC) has developed models that use AI to analyse data to track the “stratigraphic traps of brownfields that suffer from natural depletion due to cumulative production over the years”. EGPC was under instruction from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) to expand the use of AI to meet new production challenges. (Egypt Oil & Gas)
AI transforms Kenyan agriculture with smart tools
#Kenya #agritech – AI is revolutionising Kenyan farming through tools like PlantVillage Nuru, which helps diagnose crop diseases, and Virtual Agronomist, an AI chatbot advising on fertiliser use. Farmers report yield increases of up to 40% with these innovations. (Kenyan Vibe)
Startups
Algérie Télécom launches $11 million AI startup fund
#Algeria #funding — Algérie Télécom has launched a 1.5 billion dinar ($11m) fund for AI, cybersecurity, and robotics startups. Announced at the CTO Forum Algeria, the initiative aligns with national goals to establish 20,000 startups and for the ICT sector to achieve a 7% contribution to GDP. (Middle East AI News)
Mining-centric climate tech firm lands $5.7m more funding
#SouthAfrica #funding — South African (now UK-officed) climate tech firm Insight Terra closed a series A extension funding round of $5.7 million to scale its AI-driven greenhouse gas and environmental risk platform. This extension funding appears to add to the $5.45 million in Series A funding it got at launch, led by Atlantic Bridge, with initial seeder Inmarsat holding a stake, according to 2021 launch story in Sat News. (ITWeb)
Kenya’s JKUAT JHub drives AI innovation
#Kenya #startups– Jomo Kenyatta University’s JHub is fostering AI innovation, offering young tech talents a space to develop AI solutions in agriculture, health, and education. The hub currently has 32 active projects, with at least 15 expected to launch by 2026. (Kenya News)
LLMs
Setswana joins the ranks of AI-tastic languages
#Botswana #LLMs — Botswanan innovators, Kitso Speaks and Glen Mokoka, have developed the first Setswana LLM. This is both to advance their NLP research, but to also make AI more accessible to Botswanans. A key challenge for the developers is Setswana (Tswana) has limited digital linguistic resources, where they had to “collect books, newspapers, and even recorded conversations to build a dataset for the AI to learn from.” (Global South World)
Education
Now it’s Nigeria’s turn: $1m from Microsoft for training
#Nigeria #training — Microsoft has confrimed a $1 million in investment to train one million Nigerians in AI and digital skills over two years, an initiative originally announced in November 2024. Partnering with Tech4Dev and Data Science Nigeria, the initiative aims to enhance employability and workforce readiness in AI and cybersecurity. (The Nation)
Labour rights
Kenyan AI workers form Data Labelers Association
#Kenya #datalabeling – Kenyan data annotators, crucial to AI model training, have launched the Data Labelers Association (DLA) to advocate for fair pay, better conditions, and mental health support. The group has already attracted 339 members, highlighting growing concerns over AI-related labour rights. (Computer Weekly)
Policy
Namibia launches its national AI strategy
#Namibia #policy — Nambia has officially launched its National AI Strategy, geared towards establishing the nation as a hub for “AI for Emerging Economies”. It rests on the creation of a National AI Council, which would be complemented by sector-specific Technical Working Groups (TWGs). No draft is yet available. (IT News Africa)
Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority kicks of AI adoption study
#Egupt #regulation — The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) of Egypt has announced that a study is underway to facilitate the use of AI in insurance and investment fund activities. These technologies will enable more efficient comparisons between investment fund documents and alternative investment options within these sectors. (Daily News Egypt)
Egypt launches AI Readiness Assessment with UNESCO
#Egypt #ethics – Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and UNESCO have launched a national consultation on AI readiness, evaluating policies, research, and economic impact. The initiative aims to ensure responsible AI adoption while aligning with UNESCO’s ethics framework, balancing innovation with sustainable development. (Daily News Egypt)
R&D
Meta delegation visits Ethiopian AI Institute
#Ethiopia #research – Meta’s VP for Public Policy led a high-level visit to the Ethiopian AI Institute (EAII) to strengthen collaboration on AI research. Discussions focused on expanding partnerships in healthcare, education, and governance, reinforcing EAII’s role as a key player in Africa’s AI ecosystem. (Tech Review Africa)
Exhibitions
Microsoft’s global AI Tour swings through Cairo
#Egypt #Microsoft — A whistle-stop tour that circles the globe, the Egypt instance happened in partnership with the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, to bring together government officials, business leaders, technology developers, and innovators to demonstrate AI capabilities. Here are a few of the demos at the Egypt event:
GenAI Teaching Assistant - Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, used Azure OpenAI to develop an AI-powered tutor and teaching assistant that helps students build their soft skills, deployed at Ain Shams University.
Customer chatbot - Ghabbour Auto Group an automotive manufacturer and assembler adopted Copilot to enhance the organisation’s digital presence and improve customer engagement.
Company AI assistant - B.TECH, a household appliances and consumer electronics, adopted Copilot to empower employees across various departments to make more informed decisions and improve overall productivity. The company also uses GitHub Copilot to improve productivity of its programmers.
Source: (Microsoft)
[ This newsletter was human edited and AI engendered ]