AI & African Enterprises: June 2023 Newsletter
Newsletter Originally Published June 26, 2023
🇲🇦 AI Spotlight on Morocco
African governments actively embracing and planning for an "AI future" have largely engaged similar policy mechanisms: implementing data privacy regulation, supporting telcos deploying 5G networks, and promoting AI education. Mauritius, Egypt and Kenya have even established national AI strategies.
Morocco has been especially proactive in pursuing AI strategies, following a history national digital transformation strategies, including e-Morocco 2010, Digital Morocco 2013, Digital Morocco 2020, and Horizon 2025 strategies. Long term readers of this newsletter may recall Morocco becoming one of the first countries, globally, to align with UNESCO's policy framework around the ethics of adopting AI solutions (March 2022). Following an agreement signed in November 2022, this month Morocco and Israel announced a strategic initiative and cooperation in relation to developing Artificial Intelligence research.
The outcome of Morocco's AI focus is TBD, but the government's efforts so far have clearly produced what Nigerians like to call "an enabling environment" for technology companies as Morocco's startups have led M&A activity in Africa (April 2022).
Takeaway: While headlines focus on Africa's "lagging" AI efforts, many countries have been actively pursuing AI strategies since at least 2018 and Morocco's government is working to position the kingdom as an AI leader in MENA/Africa.
—Team ajala