LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- For Africa to achieve a generation of responsible Artificial Intelligence users in the area of climate change, the founder of African Technology and Innovation Institute (ATII), Prof. Rose Margaret Ekeng-Itua, and other experts have said there is a need for Afrocentric Artificial Intelligence (AI) development for climate action in Africa.
They spoke during a webinar to commemorate Africa Day 2024.
Africa Day is the annual event celebrated in Africa and across the world every May 25 to commemorate the foundation of African Union (AU) established as Organisation of Africa Union (OAU) on May 25, 1963.
Themed: “Education Fit for the 21st Century,” this year’s event was hosted by ATTI’s Prof. Rose-Margaret, the world’s first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Cybernetics.
Panelists from across Africa deliberated and provided solutions on Africa’s readiness for the future at the event themed: “Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) For Climate Action in Africa.”
On the panel were the Dean of the Quality Assurance and Planning Office of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana,Prof. Jerry John Kponyo; a conservationist, and Co-Founder/CEO of LEGA.C Capital, Mrs Nela Duke Ekpeyong; and the CEO of Adanian Labs and Chair of the AI Center of Excellence Africa, Mr. John Kamara.
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According to Prof Rose-Margaret, Africa must equip its human talents with the necessary skills to utilize AI in addressing African challenges, especially for climate action.
Citing the recent devastating flooding in Kenya, she said “the far-reaching effect on climate action are real and they are here in Africa. It is high time we acted on it and Africa should be at the center forward in this leadership of climate action.”
On his part, Prof. Kponyo said Africa must decide an area of focus and own the space. “We must invest in research and development to lead the conversation on climate action, ensuring that policies we put together address where we want to be as against a global policy or protectionist agenda.”
“It is important for us to first build capacity among the users of new technologies to increase adoption. And this capacity building scope should not be limited to only the formal sector, it must be holistic and inclusive.” He said Africa needs to focus more on applying that theories and start the training from the secondary high school levels.”
Corroborating Prof. Kponyo’s submission, Mrs. Nela Ekpeyong said Africa must take training the next generation seriously to combat climate action.
“What’s missing is skill acquisition and knowledge gap. As an emerging economy, Africa has a level of underdevelopment that allows us to innovate for sustainability in mind from the get-go,” she said.
While speaking at the event, Mr. John Kamara affirmed that Africa needs to build more data scientists.
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“Without data science, we can’t develop. We must build more data scientists who can make sense out of data in Africa.” With ground source data, we can create a lot of jobs for young people who then become a lot more involved in how they use AI from the adoption perspective,” he said.
As a consensus, the panelists concluded that Africa needs to take the lead and build its own solution with Africa-sourced data to be able to understand its peculiar challenges, empower the younger generations and improve adoption of AI to combat climate action.
Meanwhile, before the event, young Nigerians had the chance to compose poems on “Responsible AI For Climate Action,” leading to the selection of three finalists.
Annette Chinelo Nwafor emerged winner of the competition, followed closely by Benjamin Chimdiuto PraiseGod and Sophia Michael Akpan.
They were awarded 50USD, 30USD, and 20USD prize money respectively.
About African Technology and Innovation Institute (ATII)
The African Technology and Innovation Institute (ATII) is an organization that serves as a knowledge transfer hub and technological research support center for Africa. While acting as a link between research and industry.
ATII provides support for policy relevant and needs-based research and development in focused areas that directly affect African environments.
These areas include Artificial Intelligence (AI), Clean Technology, Energy, Climate Resiliency, Digitalization, Internet of things and robotics, Education Healthcare, Clean Water Access, Agriculture and Women Empowerment.
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ATII works to identify and/or develop appropriate technology solutions that provide sustainable, innovative solutions through co-creation and collaboration in line with African priorities and needs.
By harnessing innovative technology for solving African problems, the Institute seeks to fund and support African researchers, disrupt the research ecosystem and act as a knowledge transfer catalyst between Africa and the world.
The Institute is headquartered in California, USA, with branch offices in Lagos, Abuja, and Cross River States, Nigeria. The Institute also actively works through collaborative research centers in select Universities and Colleges globally.