Andrew Stegmann
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Google Has Opened its First African Artificial Intelligence Lab in Ghana

Tech giant Google is all set to exhibit itself as AI first company in front of the world by opening new research centers across the globe such as in Tokyo, Zurich, New York, and Paris. Following this idea, the company has opened its first center in Africa in Ghana capital city, Accra last week.

While growing up we have always pictured AI as some fiction scene of Sci-fi movie but little do we realize that it has become our reality now. Considering solely Google’s innovation, from virtual assistant to language translation, AI has served it all.

Not only in urban societies but in rural areas also the technology is thriving at its best. Now if a farmer with a smartphone hovers over a withering plant, he/she is more likely to get the easy diagnosis of the disease affecting the plant and according to plan its solution.

Using Google’s AI machine app ‘TensorFlow’, farmers analyze the issue with their plants and boost their production. TensorFlow was outsourced by the company to help developers generate solutions to real-world problems.

Moustapha Cisse, the research scientist heading up Google’s AI efforts in Africa said, “The team’s goal is to provide developers with the necessary research needed to build products that can solve problems that Africa faces today. Most of what we do in our research centers at Google and not just in Accra, we publish it and open-source code, so that everybody can use it to build all sorts of things.”

Cisse precisely indicated that his team is working on to collaborate with the same kind of app used by farmers in Tanzania to diagnose plant issues.

A robot pours popcorn from a cooking pot into a bowl on March 8, 2017 at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the university of Bremen, northwestern Germany.

Further, Cisse added, “A team of Pennsylvania University and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture using TensorFlow to build new artificial intelligence models that are deployed on phones to diagnose crop disease. This wasn’t done by us but by people who use the tools we built. When we do science, the results of our research, usually and hopefully, because it is of good quality, goes way further than we expect and we are hoping to see the same things happen here in Accra and across Africa.”

Telling about his team Cisse said that it is a diverse team and it has come out to be an important aspect that Africa is at the forefront of availing with the solution to the continent’s problem.

The African center will zoom into the process of enhancing Google Translate abilities to grab African languages with accuracy as it has more than 2000 dialects and needs to be better served with technology.

Keeping an eye on the rising young population of Africa, Google has joined hands with Facebook and certain other tech companies to launch projects in the region.

There has also been an algorithmic bias problem with AI structure regarding Africans. Google photos soon after its launch in 2015, tagged photos of black people as ‘gorillas’ which created a lot of controversy with the company and compelled it to fix the issue immediately. The struggle with diversity needs to be curbed and an inclusive algorithm representing all end users need to be developed.

Nyalleng Moorosi, a software engineer at the center whose work focuses on making AI more diverse said – “More Africans would be included in data gathering to provide an accurate representation of users. When you build something, you think it will only work for the world you know and your neighborhood. And you forget that maybe it can be so great it becomes deployed to foreign neighborhoods.”

Further, she said, “The best way to go about is to have diverse teams working on these algorithms and then we will get somewhere.”

Despite its bit late schedule, the center is now functional and the company bets on the artificial intelligence technology to have a transformational effect in Africa.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

DHL eSHOP Brings Over 200 Global Online Stores to African Consumers

DHL Express has announced the launch of its new mobile and desktop app aimed at improving the online shopping experience for Africa-based consumers.

The new platform, DHL Africa eSHOP, enables customers to shop directly from more than 200 US- and UK-based online retailers, with all shipments delivered by DHL Express, to the shopper’s door.

DHL Africa eSHOP will be available in 11 African markets to start – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda, Malawi, Botswana, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

This solution was developed in partnership with Link Commerce – a division of Mall for Africa.

Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, says that the DHL Africa eSHOP app offers African consumers much greater access to international retailers on an easy-to-use platform.

“DHL Africa eSHOP provides convenience, speed and access for online customers in Africa. As the global leader in express logistics, DHL is well positioned to connect African consumers with exciting global brands. This is yet another opportunity for DHL to reaffirm its commitment to supporting the growth of e-commerce in the region.”

According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, the demand for world-class online shopping opportunities is growing exponentially in Africa’s leading economies, as urbanisation and incomes continue to rise.

Despite the growing demand, many US and UK-based retailers do not offer shipping to African countries, owing to the perceived logistical challenges involved such as high last-mile delivery costs and fraud concerns.

However, DHL Express was the first express operator to set up in Africa over 40 years ago, so we are well positioned to offer innovative and reliable solutions for on the continent.”

“E-commerce offers enormous potential for the region, and we are proud to provide this platform to further connect African consumers with global opportunities,” concludes Heymans.

For more information about DHL eSHOP, click here.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

Rwandan President Kagame Makes a Case for Investment in Africa

Rwandan President Kagame said that Africa is open to business partnerships with the rest of the world and has since improved in openness and was moving as a bloc toward a free trade area.

President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, has called for increased investment in Africa, saying that countries on the continent understand the importance of foreign direct investments on their economies and have been working to create a friendly environment.

Kagame was speaking on Thursday evening in New York, United States at an NBA Board of Governors meeting that attracted NBA club owners and executives.

The President said that Africa is open to business partnerships with the rest of the world and has since improved in openness and was moving as a bloc toward a free trade area.

“Africans are beginning to understand that there are certain things we have to get for ourselves as they seek partnerships with the rest of the world,” the Head of State said.

Kagame said that the African continent has also been rolling out several integration initiatives further improving the business conditions.

“Africa is open to doing business with the rest of the world, Africa has a lot to offer,” he said.

He added: We are seeing increased openness, we have created a continental free trade area with 50 African countries signing up to that, with a number of them having already ratified the agreement.”

“We have brought Africa together and united it through regional integration. This is of interest to Africa but should be of interest to the United States and other partners as well.”

The President told the American investors in presence that the right moment to invest on the continent would be now because their ventures would grow with the continent.

“This is the moment to invest in Africa. You don’t have to wait, invest now and grow with Africa as it grows,” the Head of State added.

Kagame said that one of the benefits of investing in Africa is the demographic dividend, with a majority of the population being youthful.

The President also shared insights into Rwanda’s recovery following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed over one million lives.

He said that after the Genocide almost everything was a priority for the country considering the destruction.

“Everything was a priority and the biggest challenge was where do you start from? We started from scratch, we started by putting pieces together, bringing people back together, justice, security, rebuilding schools,” he said.

Over time, Kagame said, the country was able to create its own unique solutions and roll out initiatives which helped promote unity and reconciliation.

“In a period of 12 years, we created a justice system based on our tradition where we tried over one million people. We look back and find that national unity has been holding, justice has taken place, there has been forgiving,” he said.

Earlier Thursday, President Kagame held talks with the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

Ghanaian Educator Who Taught MS Word on a Chalkboard Reflects on the Past Year

When Richard Appiah Akoto appeared onstage at the 2018 Microsoft Educator Exchange (E2), a gathering of innovative educators discussing the latest tech trends in the sector, he received a long and standing ovation from fellow educators. They recognized him as the dedicated educator who resorted to using a chalkboard in his computer studies class because his school, the Betenase Municipal Assembly Junior High School, located in an impoverished farming village in Ghana, had no working PCs.

The photos of Richard painstakingly sketching out a mock-up of a Microsoft Word screen in colored chalk on his classroom blackboard so his students could learn digital skills even without devices, were shared thousands of times on social media. But it wasn’t the first time he’d used this technique – by the time his story went viral, he’d also drawn monitors, system units, keyboards, a mouse, formatting toolbars etc. on the chalkboard in effort to show his students what a computer screen looks like.

His story caught the attention of individuals and organisations everywhere. Microsoft, a company committed to helping every person on the planet achieve more, was particularly inspired by Richard’s determination in helping his students learn digital skills and invited him to attend the 2018 Microsoft Educator Exchange (E2) in Singapore.

A melting pot of skills transfer

E2 is an annual event that sees hundreds of the world’s most innovative educators gather in one place to celebrate incredible work done in the classroom.

During the event, educators share ideas and best practices, collaborate on projects and work together to make progress on some of the most challenging areas of education. Attendees are also energized by meeting like-minded educators and often form sustaining friendships that continue to blossom many months and years after the event has concluded.

This was exactly the case for Richard. “I’d never traveled outside of Ghana, so the opportunity to interact with educators just like me from other parts of the world was incredibly inspiring,” he says.

The seminars and workshops also gave Richard a first-hand glimpse at what the teaching process will look like in the digital future, and best practice tips on how to start preparing for that reality, today. “It was great to see how educators are using technology to teach their students beyond just the curriculum of their country. I was also inspired to learn how educators who experienced the same issues I did in terms of not having direct access to technology, overcame those challenges.”

Overall, Richard says the experience improved his ability to teach Information and Communication Technology (ICT). “Since returning from the event, I feel confident knowing what the future holds, for my profession as well as for my students who are preparing to enter the digital age. I teach with even more enthusiasm today because I know what the digital world of tomorrow looks like.”

Bringing the transformation home

Today, Richard can teach on a computer. With the assistance of organisations like Microsoft, the Sekyedomase village now has two fully-fledged computer centres. “After I returned from E2, we received donations in the form of laptops, textbooks and software from corporates and NGOs in Ghana. It was a great blessing for our community,” he says.

Richard also gained access to the Microsoft Certified Educator Programme (MCE) for professional development, so he can nurture his passion for teaching, and build rich, custom learning experiences.

Every day, Richard is inspired by the children he teaches. “It gives me joy to watch them learning to create the types of skills they will use in the future. From PowerPoint presentations to website codes, these kids are becoming future-ready and I am helping them as best I can using the knowledge I gained at E2 and the Microsoft Certified Educator Programme.”

This year’s E2 will be held in Paris, France from 3-4 April 2019. Microsoft will be bringing more educators like Richard together, not only to celebrate and acknowledge their efforts face-to-face but also to provide them with the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from each other.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].