The adoption of robotics and AI in Africa got a major boost after Uniccon Group, an Abuja-based tech start-up, unveiled Africa’s first humanoid robot, Omeife.
The adoption of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in Africa got a major boost after Uniccon Group, an Abuja-based tech start-up, unveiled Africa’s first humanoid robot, Omeife.
Omeife, the 6-foot-tall female human-like robot, is African by design and has Igbo-like physical attributes.
The battery-powered robot can speak Igbo, Yoruba, English, French, Swahili, Wazobia, Pidgin, Afrikaans and Arabic, with native accents, pitch, and vocabulary.
According to the Uniccon Group’s CEO, Chucks Ekwueme, “Omeife also identifies objects and calculates positions and distances of objects”.
Omeife was launched a few months after Abdul Malik Tejan-Sie, a South African-based, Sierra Leonean innovator, presented a prototype of SA’s first humanoid robot.
Despite not being as complex as Omeife, this shows that the slow and steady wave of progress in AI and robotics is well under way.
The 2021 Government AI Readiness Report ranks Mauritius, SA, Kenya, Ghana and Cabo Verde as the most accommodating and prepared for AI uptake in the continent.
Robotics Society of Kenya co-founder and CEO Fred Sagwe said a conducive regulatory framework, finance and availability of research labs were key in fast-tracking AI penetration in Africa.
“In Kenya, science and engineering fairs and associations such as the Young Scientists Kenya and Techkidz Africa have been vital in offering support to young AI and robotics enthusiasts,” he said.
However, Sagwe believes the real indicator of success in the sector is more investment in research and data hubs.
In Nigeria, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics has pushed the country to adopt machine learning, the internet of things, blockchain technology, intelligent robotics, extended reality and digital manufacturing and prototyping.
In SA, the government launched the AI Institute of South Africa alongside AI hubs at the University of Johannesburg and Tshwane University of Technology in November.
The Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution recommended their establishment for SA to fully tap into technology opportunities.
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, in an October 2022 report titled ‘Reaping the Rewards of the Next Technological Revolution: How Africa can Accelerate AI Adoption Today’, showed that Africa was integrating AI technology in food security and agricultural output, healthcare delivery, improved government services, better communications and access to public resources.
Many of these areas of integration have been identified and ratified by individual national agencies with investment support from the private sector.
Mauritius, the first country in Africa to develop and publish a national AI strategy in 2018, offers fiscal incentives to AI start-ups besides providing strategic guidance on potential investment areas as part of the national AI strategy.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa estimates that Africa’s economy could improve to hit $15.7- trillion (R270.83-trillion) by 2030 if the continent adjusts and taps into 10% of the AI global market. — Bird Story Agency
Originally published at Dispatch Live