Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia believes that modern technology and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform African economies.
Dr. Bawumia stated in an interview with the Africa Policy Journal that Africa cannot continue to fall behind and that the continent must actively participate in the fourth industrial revolution by leveraging technological advancements to accelerate socioeconomic growth.
“We were left behind in the first, second and third industrial revolutions, but we should not be left out in the fourth industrial revolution. I think that artificial intelligence applied properly will be a big boost to Africa to help us leapfrog and help us catch up in many areas. I think that AI should be seen as a tool to assist us”, he said.
Concerning key areas of transformation, Dr. Bawumia stated that health, education, and agriculture should be priority areas for the continent’s digitization revolution.
“I see three major areas where we can use AI in Africa: health. If we have a large number of doctors and nurses using ChatGPT 4 to ask questions, they will be able to get very accurate answers when providing healthcare. We already have drones delivering life-saving medicines, vaccines, and blood supplies to remote areas.”
“These are practical benefits of AI, and we need to embrace it. Also in education, it is not everywhere we have teachers but with these tools, we can get teachers.
The same can be said with agriculture. So, I think that if we focus on some of these areas, Africa can always benefit.”
The fourth industrial revolution has the potential to increase productivity and efficiencies through the implementation of sophisticated technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and advanced automation.
“In terms of these technologies, Africa comes to the table with no legacy systems. We can find many areas to leapfrog that the developed countries will find difficult to follow.”
He added that Africans should avoid using developed countries as a yardstick.
“Because they have a different set of facts on the ground than we do, we must chart our own course. As a result, we should not be afraid.”
