By: Hee-Dee Walenga
The Economic Association of Namibia (EAN), in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation Namibia, hosted a public lecture under the theme: ‘Harnessing AI for National Development: Skills, Productivity, and the Future of Namibia’ on Wednesday in Windhoek.
The public lecture was led by Chandan Chauhan, an AI strategist with more than four decades of experience in building and scaling high-impact technology companies.
Chauhan first encountered AI in 1985 whilst doing his Master’s thesis on Expert Systems for his Computer Science degree.
“We are not at a crossroads, what we are witnessing is an unparalleled speed of innovation. We need to take advantage of it for our own development,” said EAN chairperson Jason Kasuto in his opening remarks.
Supporting these sentiments, Chauhan dubbed AI as the greatest equaliser because it provides all breadth of knowledge and capabilities. Humans are simply tasked with unlocking it. Chauhan also strongly believes that the technology will never replace humans. “Someone still needs to manage the systems. Humans will always be in charge,” Chauhan emphasised.
The African Development Bank has projected that an additional US$1 Trillion in GDP will be created through AI for Africa by 2035. This means that 35-40 million jobs will be created because of AI.
AI Governance, AI Infrastructure, and AI Talent are the three pillars that Chauhan identified for Namibia to maximise the benefits of AI. “Give the accessibility to everyone in the country via the cellphone,” he added.
Chauhan suggested that Namibia creates an incubator that specifically caters to AI startups in the country. The incubator should have strong relationships with academia, industry, and government. The tech guru stated that such an incubator will “jump start the AI Entrepreneurial Economy.”
“Namibia has the amazing opportunity to define and lead the development of responsible applied AI for Africa. Democratise the access and develop your talent,” Chauhan expressed.
He articulated that although the technology is being developed by primarily foreign companies, it is the responsibility of the Namibian government to harness that technology to solve its problems.
“Technology is developed by the companies, but the problem space is yours. That government should ask themselves ‘what problems do we have today and can AI help solve them?’”
Chauhan further suggested that Namibia should prioritise educating and preparing its students for the future that they are entering. “Get them to start thinking critically and they will come up with creative answers. They will create their own AI systems,” he explained.
