The United Nations’ leading development agency (UNDP) and the G7 Italian Presidency, along with a delegation of private sector leaders from the African continent, is meeting with G7 AI leaders in San Francisco, hosted by the Italy Consul-General in San Francisco with Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MMIT), InnoVit and CDP.
With the UNDP delegation led by the Chief Digital Officer Robert Opp, and the Italy delegation led by Fausta Bergamotto, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy the objective is clear: we must bend the arc of AI collectively to benefit sustainable development in Africa.
The AI Hub for Sustainable Development is co-led by UNDP and Italy’s MMIT. Following the G7 Leaders Declaration, the Hub aims to co-create innovative partnerships, solutions, and investments between G7 and Africa’s private sector to transform energy, agriculture, health, water, education and training, and infrastructure in Africa.
This international conference focused on four key areas of opportunities for development which are inclusive and representative datasets including low resourced languages; local AI talent development across Africa in countries; accessible and affordable green computing infrastructure; and enabling environments for responsible AI adoption.
As history was written in 1945 during the drafting of the UN Charter in San Francisco that gave birth to the United Nations, this international conference lays the fertile ground to anchor sustainable development at the heart of AI private sector globally and in Africa – and collectively move beyond goodwill and commitments to impactful, scalable partnerships with the private sector for AI-led industrial growth, one where Africa is an equal partner for years to come.
Leaders from the Italian government, UNDP, and Silicon Valley’s investment community commented on the significance of the G7 Italian Presidency Special Event:
Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy and Co-chair of the G7 Digital and Tech Working Group, Vincenzo Del Monaco, said: “True to the spirit of the Italy-Africa Mattei plan, we need to ensure AI is an equal partnership opportunity with Africa. The AI Hub is a space for collective action with the pivotal role of the G7 and African industry.”
Head of Digital & AI Programmes, UNDP, Keyzom Massally, said: “Sustainable development is facing multidimensional crises of trust and innovations that do not put people at the center of AI. Building on the AI commitments of G7 countries, we must convene in shared spaces to understand, learn, and co-create, and go beyond the status quo of global AI development. This is the goal of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development. Coming to San Francisco with African private sector leaders is a demonstration of how we must go beyond dialogue to people-focused impact for development at scale.”
CEO and Founder, Aurion Capital, Ali Diallo, said: “With Aurion Capital, we are mobilizing capital to invest in AI-enabled companies supporting rural and emerging economies and at the same time, educating local stakeholders around ways to attract the right kinds of investments in the form of public, private, and institutional capital to solve challenges in key sectors like healthcare and energy. Our funds are committed to empowering startups and innovation-driven enterprises that build transformational digital solutions that strengthen the footprint of America and of its allies on the international stage. Investing in critical digital infrastructure in an ever-changing geo-political landscape requires strong collaborations between all stakeholders; as a result, we are seeing significant interest from American investors and companies to build stronger bridges across Rural America and international markets such Italy and Africa through partnerships with local entrepreneurs and government agencies to ensure long term growth and sustainability.”
Some notable African leaders working at the country-level for development at the international conference include: Founder, Kytabu, Tonee Ndungu; Founder and CEO, Ahura AI, Alex Tsado; CEO, Open Startup International, Houda Ghozzi; Venture Talent Specialist, The Future List, Daniel Boateng; and President of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Sam Yala.
