{"id":46552,"date":"2026-09-26T17:23:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=46552"},"modified":"2026-09-26T17:23:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T15:23:38","slug":"africa-urged-to-build-ai-around-local-challenges","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/africa-urged-to-build-ai-around-local-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa urged to build AI around local challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Independent International Scientific Panel on AI Member Girmaw Abebe Tadesse said countries should identify the problems affecting communities before choosing the data, infrastructure and technology required. \u201cWe are trying to bring the reality of our environment and integrate AI technology with the local problems we face,\u201d Tadesse said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to ask ourselves what problems we want to solve first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tadesse, who leads Microsoft\u2019s AI for Good Lab in Kenya, said a problem-focused approach could help African countries direct limited resources towards technologies with clear social and economic benefits.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>AI is increasingly being used in education, healthcare, agriculture, business and public services across the continent.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, effective systems require cooperation among governments, universities, development partners, creative communities and technology companies. \u201cWhen we bring together diverse stakeholders, we can use existing knowledge and wisdom to produce solutions needed by our communities,\u201d Tadesse said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Knowledge sharing could also help countries design systems that account for local languages, infrastructure constraints and the everyday realities communities face.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Africa\u2019s rapidly growing young population and increasing use of technology provide an opportunity for the continent to become an important centre for AI innovation. \u201cMany young people are already using technology to solve the challenges of their communities, while there are also investors and development partners willing to support these efforts,\u201d Tadesse said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The combination of young innovators, expanding technological capacity and development financing could support AI systems focused on improving public services and addressing development challenges.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, Tadesse warned that fragmented national initiatives risked duplicating work and wasting limited resources. \u201cThere is a need for African countries to collaborate more, share experiences and learn from each other\u2019s successes instead of each starting from scratch,\u201d Tadesse said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we work together, the future is bright. But we don\u2019t have much time to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tadesse said Africa\u2019s success in AI would depend on countries setting shared priorities, building appropriate infrastructure and investing in solutions responding directly to citizens\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;UN\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15889,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-46552","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"African countries should build artificial intelligence (AI) systems around local development challenges instead of copying technologies and priorities designed elsewhere, a United Nations (UN)-backed expert says.","published_date":"","news_description":"African countries should build artificial intelligence (AI) systems around local development challenges instead of copying technologies and priorities designed elsewhere, a United Nations (UN)-backed expert says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46560,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46552\/revisions\/46560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=46552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}