Africa has to look to emerging technologies like AI to fuel its economic recovery in 2022
KEY POINTS
80 percent of companies stated they had plans to roll out some form of automation software over the next 12 months.
Over the past 2 years since the Covid-19 pandemic started, Africa’s economy has contracted by 2.1 percent, and regional growth is expected to be muted in 2022 compared to 2021.
Economic recovery and growth are top of mind for countries and many are now realizing that accelerated digital transformation is at the heart of achieving this.
Forward-thinking leaders, policymakers, and organizations are turning to AI – which is helping organizations experience the equivalent of 10 years of growth in less than one year in areas such as e-commerce.
By leveraging emerging technologies like AI, countries can surely drive greater efficiencies, create jobs, enhance competitiveness and productivity.
A recent IBM report revealed that nearly half of global businesses (43 percent) accelerated their rollout of AI over the last year as organizations looked to virtual assistants to automate workflows.
Additionally, 80 percent of companies stated they had plans to roll out some form of automation software over the next 12 months.
The increased use of AI isn’t limited to organizations and businesses. AI is playing a key role in crucial industries such as agriculture. It can help to deliver data analytics and predictive insights to help farmers make better-informed decisions. This will lead to improved agricultural outputs for smallholder farmers and big agribusiness players – promoting sustainable development and boosting food security.
With that potential in mind, these are the top five AI trends that will give the agricultural sector and organizations a digital advantage in 2022.
AI creates a reliable, sustainable future
Consumers, regulators, and shareholders are putting greater pressure on companies to make tangible sustainability gains. Climate change and extreme weather events also put a strain on supply chains and business operations.
As these pressures continue to grow in 2022, AI will play a key role in helping businesses achieve sustainability benchmarks through greater measurement, data collection, and carbon accounting, as well as improved predictiveness and greater supply chain resiliency.
AI will drastically improve sustainable farming on land by helping farmers to forecast weather conditions
Farmers across Africa have always wrangled with weather – drought, flooding, or something in between. AI and IoT apps such as FarmWeather will help small-holder farmers maximize crop output despite unpredictable weather conditions by providing risk forecasts and crop advice for a 3-4km radius of a farm and will also allow information sharing – including via SMS for farmers without access to the Internet or a smartphone.
AI will open up horizons for the agriculture ecosystem, allowing farmers to produce more with fewer resources, and consequently to be more efficient, profitable, and sustainable
Different producers in the agricultural food chain are faced with the challenge of improving their profitability in harmony with a sustainable and balanced development model. Technologies such as AI can be used by farmers to gather information about their crops and give them the insights they need to make decisions quickly.
AI will help to deliver sustainable aquaculture to help recover the oceans
There are several threats currently facing our oceans. Better allocation of