I was invited as a keynote speaker in Khartoum – Sudan on November 27 and November 28 2017 by Lutfi Self Development Centre (Lutfi SDC Sudan) It was big event in Khartoum and opening speech was done by Sudan central bank officials. It was amazing experience and lot of learning came out. The event was attended by MTN, Oracle, GSMA and many big names of the industry. I presented my topic of AI in FinTech focused on my area of advocacy on how AI is reinventing FinTech by disrupting and non disrupting methodologies. Bringing Artificial intelligence to make FinTech better, demystified and simple.

Next time a trip to the doctor seems daunting, consider this: in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, patients must travel long distances to access treatment. Even once they see a practitioner, there is still concern about receiving the medicine and treatments they need. In developed countries, healthcare challenges are different -- often revolving around improving quality, outcomes and costs -- but they are challenges nonetheless. Startups and more experienced organizations alike look to mobile healthcare innovation to address these challenges across the globe, helping provide better access to care, improving quality and driving better outcomes. These innovations are built on top of standard mobile technologies, such as SMS messaging and Bluetooth, and through emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing, voice assistants (VA) and the IoT.

Fintech and automation are critical to growing transaction-banking services in the era of Big Data. Faced with more-demanding corporate clients in a multibank environment, transaction banks have invested millions of dollars in creating a seamless technological experience by integrating their banking platforms with those of their corporate and institutional clients. Treasurers want real-time visibility and control over their cash and liquidity, to minimize external borrowings, effectively manage working capital and maximize returns, according to Chet Kamat, CEO of Oracle Financial Services Software. "It is critical to have systems that not only effectively manage and monitor transaction-based liquidity but also help corporates project their positions based on future cash flows," he says. "Treasurers are looking for an integrated system that makes it simple to monitor positions across multiple geographies, with multiple banks, and that eases reconciliation between bank systems and corporate systems."

In tropical regions, populations continue to suffer morbidity and mortality from malaria and arboviral diseases. In Kedougou (Senegal), these illnesses are all endemic due to the climate and its geographical position. The co-circulation of malaria parasites and arboviruses can explain the observation of coinfected cases. Indeed there is strong resemblance in symptoms between these diseases making problematic targeted medical care of coinfected cases. This is due to the fact that the origin of illness is not obviously known. Some cases could be immunized against one or the other of the pathogens, immunity typically acquired with factors like age and exposure as usual for endemic area. Then, coinfection needs to be better diagnosed. Using data collected from patients in Kedougou region, from 2009 to 2013, we adjusted a multinomial logistic model and selected relevant variables in explaining coinfection status. We observed specific sets of variables explaining each of the diseases exclusively and the coinfection. We tested the independence between arboviral and malaria infections and derived coinfection probabilities from the model fitting. In case of a coinfection probability greater than a threshold value to be calibrated on the data, duration of illness above 3 days and age above 10 years-old are mostly indicative of arboviral disease while body temperature higher than 40{\textdegree}C and presence of nausea or vomiting symptoms during the rainy season are mostly indicative of malaria disease.

Marking the coming of the fourth industrial revolution, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is permeating every major industry from healthcare to transportation, education, finance and insurance. The McKinsey Global Institute (pdf) says that AI is contributing to a transformation of society "happening ten times faster and at 300 times the scale or at roughly 3,000 times the impact" of the Industrial Revolution. In the healthcare industry, AI's ability to help clinicians make diagnoses is one major way in which patients are benefiting directly. Technology giant IBM brought AI into the mainstream of healthcare, when it offered its AI platform Watson to cancer centres in 13 countries to aid oncologists in identifying evidence-based treatment options for patients. The promise of AI is not limited to commercial applications.

MBN Solutions have been engaged by a world renowned Fortune 500 Consulting client operating across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, to recruit an ambitious and creative (Senior) Data Scientist to help develop and lead on a range of Big Data, Data Science and Advanced Analytical projects. You will be part of a highly reputable Data Science and Machine Learning team within the Analytics and Insight practice, working closely with a range of Blue Chip clients to derive insight and opportunities from their existing systems and to utilize advanced data driven software algorithms and technology to improve and optimize their businesses. For more info send your CV to [email protected] OR press apply!

Dawit Haile fought against the odds when he decided to study computer science in Eritrea, East Africa, despite having no internet connectivity. His perseverance paid off, first landing a job with the Eritrean government department of education, and later as an engineer in Lithuania. Today, Dawit is a data scientist in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he credits this new job to the knowledge and experience he gained from fast.ai. On the side, he's building an algorithm to translate between English and his native language of Tigrinya. Dawit is just one of many impressive fast.ai

Shiraz Khota, SAP SAThe use of artificial intelligence techniques is revolutionising a number of technologies today, including internet search, game theory, business intelligence and medicine. What's not as well known is how it's changing finance for the better. AI is making finance faster, more efficient and more innovative. Plugging large amounts of historical data into deep learning systems can yield surprising – and profitable – results, but there are also the more run-of-the-mill benefits such as reducing the day-to-day grind of repetitive tasks. Where could AI make a difference in financial work right now? Shiraz Khota, head of S/4 Hana Cloud at SAP South Africa: A lot of the technology that is out there right now already has AI technology in it, even if it's rudimentary.

Each new year provides the opportunity for reflection upon how far we have come and how far we still have to go, on both a personal and societal level. It was also the year that it took you at least a few minutes to realise the customer agent answering your queries in that little chat-box wasn't human, when you picked up a VR headset from your local toyshop for the price of a pizza, when you found yourself in far too many political arguments around the water-cooler, and when you began seriously questioning whether a computer might someday take your job -- maybe for the second time that year. We will see continuing tensions within and between countries, as 20th century nationalist sentiments push resentfully against 21st century supranational integration. There will be moments when it feels like only technology can save us, followed by events which remind us of how perilous our inventions can be when we still barely understand them. The following is not investment or professional advice of any kind, and is intended only to promote discussion and reflection on some of the rising trends and ideas of our time.

While companies like Amazon pour considerable resources into finding ways of using drones to deliver such things as shoes and dog treats, Zipline has been saving lives in Rwanda since October 2016 with drones that deliver blood. Zipline's autonomous fixed-wing drones now form an integral part of Rwanda's medical-supply infrastructure, transporting blood products from a central distribution center to hospitals across the country. And in 2018, Zipline's East African operations will expand to include Tanzania, a much larger country. Delivering critical medical supplies in this region typically involves someone spending hours (or even days) driving a cooler full of life-saving medicine or blood along windy dirt roads. Such deliveries can become dangerous or even impossible to make if roads and bridges get washed out.