by MARIA MACHARIA
NAIROBI – PROMINENT technology entrepreneur, Strive Masiyiwa, has urged the rest of the African continent to emulate Kenya for its rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Zimbabwean-born billionaire reveals there has been an overwhelming response to recently-announced plans by his Cassava Technologies to establish an AI-powered data centre in Kenya, one of five such facilities initially planned for the continent.
This is in partnership with Nvidia.
“When we announced recently that Kenya was one of five countries where we will build Africa’s first AI supercomputer, it was a decision based on market research,” Masiyiwa stated.
He added: “…….and I can tell you that within weeks of that announcement, we had already been inundated with requests for even more capacity than we had originally planned for the country, forcing us to review our plans.”
Masiyiwa singled out Kenya for rapid adoption of AI, adding the country was in addition to that a technology leader globally.
He used the example of M-PESA mobile money platform launched in Kenya in 2007.
Masiyiwa pointed out the service was now used by more than 2 billion people across the globe.
“Now comes this report which says that Kenya has the highest usage adoption of ChatGPT, the leading GenAI platform in the world,” Masiyiwa.
According to Datareportal, 42,1 percent of Kenyan internet users aged 16 and above use ChatGPT.
Masiyiwa noted as the East African country did not have natural resources like oil and gold to anchor its economy, it had long sought to develop a technology-based ecosystem.
“And it has succeeded,” he said.
“Other African countries should really ‘fast follow’ the Kenya example, as indeed others have begun to do. There are so many good things we can learn from each other across our continent!”
A country of over 53 million people, Kenya is ranked the continent’s fifth-largest economy by gross domestic product (GDP), US$104 billion. It is rated East Africa’s largest, after reclaiming the position from Ethiopia.
– CAJ News
