from ARNOLD MULENGA in Lusaka, Zambia
Zambia Bureau
LUSAKA, (CAJ News) – ZAMBIA will launch its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy in October, coinciding with the country’s 60th independence anniversary.
Felix Mutati, the Minister of Science and Technology, revealed the strategy will be unveiled on October 24, six decades to the day of the southern African nation’s attainment of self-rule from Britain.
“The launch of the AI strategy will signify the rebirth of Zambia at 60 years and show that the nation’s economy will now be powered by AI going forward,” he said.
He was speaking in the southwestern border town of Livingstone, where he presided over the just-concluded Corporate Governance Conference and Gala Awards.
At the event organised by the Institute of Directors, Mutati revealed the government was working with the Tony Blair Institute and the Finnish Government to devise the AI Strategy.
The minister allayed fears among Zambians that AI would lead to mass job losses.
“AI has come to promote productivity and efficiency. It has not come to get your (Zambians’) jobs. It has come to enhance your work,” Mutati said.
The AI policy would see Zambia leverage this technology to grow its economy.
Also at the awards it was revealed that the government of President Haikande Hichilema was devising a Startup Bill that would pave the way for the creation of a venture capital fund to support startups in the Southern African country.
In another development, Edward Kabwe, President of the Institute of Directors President welcomed the government’s recent approval of the Institute of Directors Bill.
“The approval of the bill shows the importance the government attaches to the promotion of corporate governance in the country,” Kabwe said.
The institute is working on an agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation to promote good corporate governance in the private sector.
– CAJ News