ETHIOPIA to Establish AI R&D Centre

The Government of Ethiopia is set to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) research and development centre that helps startups and regulate the industry. In January 2020, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers approved a regulation that will facilitate the establishment of an AI Research and Development Centre. The regulation is expected to provide quality services, products and solutions for beginner developers working on artificial intelligence. Though the country had no regulatory framework to govern and embrace such technologies, individuals efforts have been bearing fruits in applying AI and robotics in Ethiopia.

In 2018 robotics lab iCog, founded by a 19-year-old Ethiopian, Betelhem Dessie, reported that the country’s first AI lab was involved in developing the now-world-famous Sophia the robot. With the aim of promoting the new AI industry, the oldest state higher education facility in Ethiopia, the Addis Ababa University also hosted the country’s first AI conference.

Ethiopia’s Betelhem Dessie, one of the founders of iCogLabs, whose company was involved in the development of Sophia the Robot.

In Africa countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa have been embracing AI, which has the potential to improve African lives in the socio-economic sector. In April 2019, Google introduced the first African AI research laboratory in Accra, Ghana. The lab will address many economic, political and environmental challenges across the continent using AI. In Kenya and Nigeria, AI focused start-ups have begun working on agricultural planning, reducing financial transaction costs, and improving public transportation access and efficiency.

This latest move by Ethiopia is aimed at ensuring that developments in AI are utilized in Africa. ai