GABORONE, Aug. 7 — Botswana is aggressively pursuing and promoting the commercialization of high technologies, shoring up the great firewall for the artificial intelligence (AI) age, Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology Thulaganyo Segokgo said Monday. “Botswana is inching closer to become Africa’s first AI superpower, although we seem lagging behind some countries on the continent,” the minister told students at Mater Spei College in Francistown, Botswana‘s second-largest city. Segokgo said Botswana is taking significant steps to position itself as a leader in the continental digital economy.
Last year, Botswana established the SmartBots Lab Center of Excellence, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, to support the country’s competitiveness and socioeconomic development in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to the latest IMF Artificial Intelligence Preparedness Index (AIPI) dashboard, Botswana‘s AI preparedness index score stood at 0.41, on a scale of 0 to 1. The index is based on a set of macro-structural indicators covering human capital, labor market policies, digital infrastructure, innovation, economic integration, regulation and ethics. South Africa tops the continent with an AIPI score of 0.5, followed by Tunisia, 0.47, Kenya, 0.45, and Morocco and Ghana, 0.43. Namibia is ranked sixth with a score of 0.42, while Botswana follows closely with a score of 0.41.
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