Ethiopia to Establish Its First-Ever Artificial Intelligence Research Centre

The council of Minister approves a new regulation that would allow the establishment of the first-ever artificial intelligence (AI) research centre in Ethiopia.

The move is among series of measures that are being implemented by the reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) in a bid to make the nation with 112 million population technologically advanced.

Recently, his government launched maiden satellite, ETRSS-1, into space from a space centre in China. Three months ago, Ethiopia made an agreement with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group on the creation of an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP).

The centre is expected to engage in activities that would safeguard the national interests of the East African countries using artificial intelligence services, products and solutions based on research, development and implementation. It is also expected to create conducive environment for start-ups that are working and interested in AI sector.

Kenya is the most prepared country for artificial intelligence in Africa, according to the 2019 Government AI Readiness Index published by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Oxford Insights. Out of the 194 countries ranked in the world, 12 African countries are in the top100. These include Tunisia (54th), Mauritius (60th), South Africa (68th) and Ghana (75th). The other countries in the top100 are Morocco (80th), Uganda (91st), Senegal (93rd), Tanzania (94th) and Rwanda (99th).