AI and Robotics in Africa

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Robotics in Africa

African Robotics Network (AFRON) which is currently transitioning its identity to AfRob
African Robotics Network (AfRob) Membership Application
All-girls robotics team from Ghana wins World Robofest Championship in the U.S.
Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge: Design & build a Mars rover prototype
Culturally competent social robots target inclusion in Africa
Fundi Bots robotics for kids classes, motivating STEM education generally
Humanoid robot Sophia addresses Africa technology summit in Rwanda
ICRA@40 Africa
IRCAD in the press
MIT-Africa Robotics Boot Camp
Pan-African Robotics Competition General Overview
Pan-African Robotics Competition 2023 AgTech Challenge uses more advanced tools, e.g., ROS, Gazebo, and OpenCV, and Scout robot from AgileX.
PGuard security robots by Enova Robotics, Tunisia.
Research Institute against Digestive Cancer (IRCAD)
Robofest 2019
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Africa, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 131-135, December 2019.
Robot Learning for Africa Workshop
Robots in Africa. What does this mean for the continent?
RobotsAfrica mentor African teachers to teach African youth
Creativity Labs Robotics for Kids
Robotics in Africa Forum at IROS 2024
Robotics in Education in Africa Ayorkor Korsah, Ashesi University, Ghana, Plenary speaker at the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Ryonic Robotics
Surgical robots in operation at Tygerberg public hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
Skybugs pest management using drone technology by Aerobotics, South Africa
Ubtech CRUZR service robot deployed to check the temperature of travellers arriving at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda.
Working with Robots as Colleagues: Kenyan Perspectives of Ethical Concerns on Possible Integration of Co-bots in Workplaces
IRCAD Africa
Responsible AI in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

Robotics Education in Africa

B.Sc. Robotics Engineering Academic City University College, Ghana
Carnegie Mellon University Africa website and video
ICRA 2015 - Robotics in Education in Africa
Keza Education Future Lab for kids aged 3 to 14
Leapr Labs
Mtoto Robotics (part for Leapr Labs)
New Generation Academy
Creativity Lab STEM education using robots
The government of Rwanda enters into a partnership with ZoraBots Africa to promote STEM in Rwandan schools
RAIN: Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria
Design Challenge: Call for proposals to design a robotics program and toolkit to be implemented in Rwandan school curricula and the resultant pilot program with a post on X
Ghana Robotics Academy Foundation

AI in Africa

Africa will be transformed by the potential of AI and data – if we can get investment
Africa Embraces AI, Robotics, and Machine Learning, Invited talk at the Int. Conference on Robot Ethics and Standards (ICRES 2020) NB: 300 MB
AI in Africa for Sustainable Economic Development 2022 Workshop
AI in Africa : Framing AI through an African Lens
AI & Global Governance: AI in Africa is a Double-Edged Sword
Artificial Intelligence – how can it benefit Africa?
Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare in Africa
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Deployments in Africa: Benefits, Challenges and Policy Dimensions
Artificial Intelligence Hits African Companies
Awarri Enabling AI for Africa
Black in AI
Data Science Africa
Data Scientists Network
FAIR Forward - Artificial Intelligence for All
Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI (edited extract) and An interview with the authors
Ghana Natural Language Processing
How is A.I. Being Utilized in Africa? Mapping AI Applications across Africa
iCog Labs AI Research and Software Development
Look to Africa to advance artificial intelligence Nature 562, 461 (2018)
Masakhane A grassroots NLP community for Africa, by Africans
Realizing the Potential of AI in Africa C. Delmus Alupo, D. Omeiza, and D. Vernon, in Towards Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Systems, M. I. Aldinhas Ferreira (Ed.), Springer (2022)
Responsible AI in Africa Challenges and Opportunities; open access book from Springer (if you are short on time, read the Foreword by Mark Coeckelbergh in the Front Matter)
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Africa, also at IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 131-135, December 2019
SisonkeBiotik An open grassroots participatory community making African data science, machine learning and AI for health more accessible and inclusive
The AI Invasion is Coming to Africa (and It’s a Good Thing)
The Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa, African Union.
The future of AI: Why Google is betting big on Africa
The future is intelligent: Harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence in Africa
The State of AI in Africa Report 2023
The State of AI in Africa - A Policy Brief

AI Education in Africa

AI Saturdays Abuja
AI Saturdays Lagos
AMLD Africa 2021 Applied Machine Learning Days
AMLD Africa 2022 Applied Machine Learning Days
AMLD Africa 2022 Applied Machine Learning Days
Atingi course - How to Get Involved in Artificial Intelligence
Atingi course - Launchpad to Fundamental Questions of Artificial Intelligence - Part 1: What is AI?
Atingi course - Launchpad to Fundamental Questions of Artificial Intelligence - Part 2: Application of artificial intelligence in daily life
Atingi course - Launchpad to Fundamental Questions of Artificial Intelligence - Part 3: Risks
Atingi course - Launchpad to Fundamental Questions of Artificial Intelligence - Part 4: Opportunities and Outlook
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for Development
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for All: Open AI Training Data for African Languages
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for All: How to prepare open training data and share it for re-use by others following international standards
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for All: How to eliminate or mitigate biases in Artificial Intelligence training data
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for All: How to Create and Sustain Open AI Image Training Data
Atingi course - Artificial Intelligence for All: Open AI Training Data for Earth Observation
Atingi course - Machine Learning on Earth Observation: ML4EO Bootcamp based on Radiant Earth's online course below
African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Master’s in Machine Intelligence (AIMMI)
Carnegie Mellon University Africa website and video
Computational Neuroscience Imbizo
Deep Learning Indaba
Radiant Earth's online course on machine learning for earth observation 14 videos on YouTube and materials on GitHub
TReND-CaMinA: Computational Neuroscience and Machine learning in Africa

Research Funding Opportunities

AI4D Scholarships Enhancing Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Artificial Intelligence for Development in Africa (AI4D Africa) program
The Excellence in Africa Initiative
European Union and African Union join forces to empower a new generation of African research talents
Knowledge for All Global South Artificial Intelligence Directory
Cracking the Language Barrier for a Multilingual Africa
Masakhane MT: Decolonizing Scientific Writing for Africa
Named Entity Recognition and parts of Speech Datasets for African Languages

Responsible AI in Africa

African Observatory on Responsible Artificial Intelligence (the African Observatory)

Telemedicine

Babyl digital health service provider in Rwanda.

Economic Policy and Impact

Artificial Intelligence for Development Africa
Additive manufacturing: Implications for African economies
The Fourth Industrial Revolution - what it means and how to respond
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization will transform Africa into a global powerhouse
National AI policies and strategies
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - Technology and Innovation Report 2021
Robots and Industrialization in Developing Countries
The Rise of the Robot Reserve Army: Automation and the Future of Economic Development, Work, and Wages in Developing Countries
Industry 4.0 - Is Africa ready for the march of the robots?
Artificial intelligence for Africa: an opportunity for growth, development, and democratization
Policy innovation for transforming Africa’s food system with digital technologies
Digitalisation and the future of African manufacturing: Briefing paper
Digitalisation and the future of African manufacturing.
Technology at Work v2.0 The Future Is Not What It Used to Be
Premature Deindustrialization
Could 3D printing revolutionize manufacturing in Africa and the Middle East?

Drones in Africa

Drones on the Horizon: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture
AI and remote sensing in agriculture
Impact of drones in Rwanda
In the Air With Zipline’s Medical Delivery Drones
 - IEEE Spectrum, April 2019
How Rwanda Built A Drone Delivery Service: video highlighting the engineering accomplishments of the delivery service
Data-driven drones deliver lifesaving medical aid around the world Databricks customer story on Zipline

AI-related Companies and Applications

Aerobotics
Digital Umuganda
Electricity Growth and Use in Developing Economies (e-GUIDE) Initiative uses deep learning, data analytics, and satellite imagery to predict energy demand and consumption.
Fenix International uses predictive analytics to lend money to those who previously lacked financial services.
Hepta Analytics
InterConnectPoint tranforms manufacturing with advanced sensors and machine learning in the agri-industry, mining, oil & gas
iCow expert information on good farming practices accessed through SMS alerts
M-Farm connects farmers with local buyers and provides a real-time virtual marketplace
Notto a mobile app that acquires images of rent receipts and automatically constructs a credit-worthiness profile of clients which they can use in support of loan and mortgage applications.
Professional Drone Services and Analytics
Six artificial intelligence startups in Africa to look out for
Smile Identity Real-time digital Know Your Customer (KYC) identity verification, user onboarding, and user authentication across Africa.
Third Eye Water
Charis UAS Unmanned Aerial Solutions
Ubenwa a mobile app that analyses the cry sounds of a newborn to detect early signs of perinatal asphyxia; Charles Onu, Founder and Research Lead; Birth of an Idea: The Ubenwa Story
Ulima all-in-one app for pre- to post-harvest farming, providing tailored and step-by-step assistance to farmers

AI Research Organizations

IBM Research, Nairobi, Kenya, and Johannesburg, South Africa
Intelliverse Pioneering Collaborative Artificial Intelligence Research and Innovation across Africa
Microsoft Africa Research Institute (MARI), Nairobi, Kenya.
Research ICT Africa

National AI Strategies

The Future Society National AI Strategies for Inclusive & Sustainable Development.
The Future Society The Development of Rwanda’s National Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Highlights

Some of these issues are discussed in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Africa, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 131-135, December 2019.

Others are highlighted in an invited talk "Africa Embraces AI, Robotics, and Machine Learning" (300 MB) given at ICRES 2020, the International Conference on Robot Ethics and Standards, Taipei, September 2020.

Realizing the Potential of AI in Africa, co-authored by Charity Delmus Alupo and Daniel Omeiza, in Towards Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Systems, M. I. Aldinhas Ferreira, O. Tokhi eds. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering. Springer, 2022.

Essential Footnote

On the impossibility of speaking of Africa Speech by the former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler