Are African governments ready for Artificial Intelligence?

This story was contributed to TechCabal by Conrad Onyango/bird. African governments are ramping up national strategies on the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a fresh hunt for crucial data that would help improve public service delivery and governance. AI is no longer a preserve of the private sector as Africa's public sector hops on a global trend where governments join the hunt for robust data to transform how they deliver services to an increasingly tech-savvy population. Oxford Insights in its'Government AI Readiness Index 2021,' shows governments across the continent are turning to AI to improve their public services and gain strategic economic advantages. More governments, the report says, are building up AI ecosystems-backed by national strategies to capitalize on a 10-year global boom that has seen private sector firms commercialize AI research and development.