Unlocking Africa's Potential with AI — Thabang Ledwaba

Good morning, good evening, or even really—well, good afternoon, depending on which part of the world you're in. My name is Thabang Ledwaba, and I'm here to speak about an interesting topic. I'm going to speak about my name a bit later, just to make sure that everybody understands what it actually means.

But I think the key thing to understand, more than anything, is: what does AI mean to all of us? And I think it's a question that all of us have been asking ourselves quite recently, where we see AI as not just a conversation that we're having in tech rooms or in tech meetups, but it's actually starting to be a conversation in some weird places.

Are we looking at the transformation of the world, but more importantly for us Africans, the transformation of the continent? Spoiler alert: some of the concepts of AI—or rather, AI in itself—is not a new topic. In about 1950, concepts such as neural networks, which are fundamental to AI; concepts such as machine learning in the 1980s; and of course, very recently, the deep learning conversations.

But we're starting to have different arguments now, where we used to brag about generative AI and how it provides all of these things for us. Now we're looking at a different aspect of AI, where we're starting to speak about agentic AI and what it provides, or rather, what decisions it can make for us.

Now, it's always such a gripping effect when people talk about AI. Sometimes it's so overwhelming you start to think, is this actually reality, or is this just a colorful aspect of our brain? Some sense of creativity in our aspect of thinking, or rather, of defining where this view—or rather, this flow—of technology is going to.

Now, I say this because a couple of years ago I was in the Netherlands, and we—part of the conference, besides speaking, was understanding what is AI and what is not. A couple of interesting observations were made. We had to turn down a couple of websites which were AI-powered, apparently.

But what I realized in that moment is, when people argue, they actually default to their, you know, natural home language. Now, being the only South African there, it was quite interesting that at some point I was not part of the conversation, even though I was the one that probably said, "Whatever they were speaking about is not actually an AI improvision."

Needless to say, I was not happy, so the organizers decided to make it up for me. They would walk me down to one of the famous pubs in the Netherlands. Now, as I walked in there and introduced myself, to my surprise, I was presented with beer, which is probably one of the best responses to introducing myself has gone.

And only to find out that my name actually sounds quite close to one of the most famous beers in the Netherlands. Now, this is not an unusual thing for me, because in the Afrikaans-speaking communities, when I introduce myself—and if I say my name too quickly—I'm often being asked, "Are you okay?"

or "Are you scared of something?" And so this is really such a common thing for me to get when I introduce myself. Now, let's just make it clear: my name is Thabang as I introduced myself earlier, but my name actually, in Sithuana, means "to be happy."

Now, I'm not sure if my dad was happy, but I know I was the firstborn son, and I think he must have had a lot of thoughts, but internally he might have been happy. Now, I grew up in the South—Sowetu, which we call the Southern Township—all the way in South Africa, all the way in Johannesburg county.

And one of the key things about me is I've always been a child that liked to break things apart. Now, we'll get to breaking things apart and how that story ended, but I've always thought of things in my new pieces and how this big representation of something—what are the little pieces that contribute to it, or rather, that build up to it?

And this is one of my first targets. I mean, I know my dad had one of these, and one of the questions I used to ask him is, "Why do you carry such a heavy object on your belt?"

And for some reason, people who had pagers had a very unique way of walking. And I'm hoping it's not the weight of the pager that was at hand. My other target was the cell phone,right? And for the young ones, they probably are amazed, "What the hell is this?"

But actually, these are the phones that were in use a couple of years ago—or rather, in our time, as they say. And I've always asked myself, "Cool, so just with this device I can make a call?" But for me, I think, one of the targets that has always been in my mind was this little babyright here.

This was like the '72-ish—this was like the plasma of back in our days. And I've always asked my grandmother, "What is behind this TV?" Like, "Why is it so big at the back?" In my mind, are there actors inside the TV?

So there was quite a lot of things that happened. Needless to say, for my efforts of being good at breaking things apart, I am still buying TVs for my grandmother, or rather even my whole family. Now, clearly I had a big, big talent of breaking things apart.

So what better way to break things apart than to go break humans? And I went to go study medicine. I studied medicine, which was quite interesting, because it seems like putting things back together was actually the more important part, rather than the breaking apart, which started to seem a bit boring for me.

Because unlike my fellow colleagues, that flat-lining sound for me was probably one of the most interesting things, because I used to ask myself, "Cool, how does this—how do all these sensors work? How does it pick up that somebody—well, unfortunately—has passed on?

I mean, what are all these things that are used to keep the person alive?" And then I did the switch. Now, if you're from South Africa, you know the famous switch. The famous switch is when you leave VITS, or rather the University of VITS, and you walk down the road and you talk to the guys at UJ to let you in.

And upon completion of my BSc Computer Science, I've always asked myself, "If we look at Africa, and if we look at it apart before we bring it together, what does Africa actually have to offer? What do we have to offer to the world, besides the natural minerals and all of those wonderful things that they usually see us for?

What do we have to offer this world? And how does the world actually see us?" Now, when we speak, especially around the concept of AI, Africa is normally seen as the baby, you know, still going into this phenomenon and understanding where this AI thing is taking us.

But it's strange, because I recently read that the third highest daily use of ChatGPT is coming from Kenya. Now, I'm not sure what the Kenyans are searching for, but clearly it means we are quite immersed in technology,right? We are using it.

It is in our hands. We are utilizing it. Whether we're searching for theright things, that's not important for now. And a couple of things that have always stuck strong to me is when I look at some of the patents, or rather newfound—newfounded AI startups that are coming up.

Most of them are in the European countries, Asian countries. And I always ask myself, "Where are we? Where is Africa in this?" And often it's not even part of anywhere,right? It's probably down below the rest of the world, which for me presents a unique opportunity.

I've always said that when you don't have much, that's where you actually produce some of the best innovations. Simplicity is key. Now, I'll get to why I say that a bit later. Now, Africa is actually not that behind.

I mean, yes, we don't have all the fancy resources that most other continents have, but Africans have always found a way—using technology, of course—to work around their problem. I mean, if you look at where the African fintech space isright now, you'll see quite unique products coming out of Africa.

Things like M-Pesa, the ability for us to move money between different individuals just by using their cell phone number. A game-changer in terms of using money across different continents, across different regions even. Now, the picture becomes clearer if we look at just fintech revenue growth.

Just between 2021 and projected between 2030, you'll see that Africa is actually coming there,right? Africa has the potential, with its fintech products and with its fintech usage, to actually be part of the global player within fintech. Now, it's important to understand that fintech is not really AI,right?

So we need to understand that, because quite easily we start to introduce tools and we introduce processes, and we see it as AI. But what does AI have to offer that we could leverage, knowing that we're quite there?

We've been using technology to some degree. We've found ways around some of our problems with products like M-Pesa. But if you take a closer look just within the continent, you'll see that the country I'm in, South Africa, actually has a number of companies that are already specializing in the AI space.

So the question is, clearly we are immersed in this AI cheese, or rather this AI space. But where does the future live for us? I mean, what does AI present to us that will potentially help us be in a better space, or potentially help us be a global player as a continent?

Now, I say this because one study looked at some of the international market sizes, specifically in Africa, and where they projected to be. And if you just look just between 2020 and 2030, you'll see an almost 17% jump, or rather 17 times jump, in terms of the market size, in terms of investment.

And this is all in billion dollars. So clearly there is something that someone is seeing for them to invest so much in this market. But the question has always been, is this growth synonymous with what the potential it has for Africa?

And is it growing Africa? Not just the technology, not just the AI markets, but is it actually making an impact? And if we take a closer look at everything we do in Africa, you look at some of our problems,right?

This is a problem that we have a lot, and I think this is probably a global problem. Now, applying, or rather going to your home office where you get your ID or your passport, is probably seen as one of the most dreaded life experiences you could ever have.

So if you lost your ID—actually, it's not about your ID being lost, it's "I have to go stand that queue again." And I say this because in trying to solve some of our problems, especially in the African context, we have a few guardrails that, you know, the politics, the tax laws, the finances, all these red-tape measures that don't allow us to actually look at the system and change the system, but rather we over-engineer the problem.

I say this because one of those problems that I just showed you now, if you look at some of the innovations, or rather the thoughts around how we're going to solve the queuing problem at home office, it's we should get a ticket system, or maybe we should hire more people, or maybe we should open more home office offices.

Now, I'm not disputing any of these options. These are great options. But sometimes,right, and sometimes, as this picture shows you, we are not really looking at what the problem is. I say this because one of the conversations that I've had with a few delegates from the home office aspect is, "How do we get rid of these queues?

How do we make sure that people, you know, either come in at certain times and everything?" I mean, they've tried it with booking a session, or booking a—doing a booking on the home office website. Great innovation, don't get me wrong.

It does solve the problem. But is it actually making the impact? Because if you go to home office now, I kid you not, the queue is probably two times as worth it than it was five years ago. Now, we got to an interesting conversation, as I said, where we spoke about ticketing systems.

And of course, there were quite a few tenders involved and discussed it. So one of the questions I asked them is, "If we know when someone's born,right, and we know the age at which they qualify for an ID or a passport or whatever it is, why then do they need to start an application?"

Now, when I said this, a couple of people must have thought, "I might have drank too much coffee, or I might be lacking some sleep." But my view was, if we know when someone was born, and if they're at an age at which they qualify for an ID, why can't we automatically kickstart the process?

Now, this is a common ID, or rather the new ID design we have in South Africa, and it's a brilliant innovation. But for me, are we solving the problem? Because if we technically auto-process, or rather auto-initiate this application process—and again, this is probably not a problem that could just solve Africa's problems, this is probably something that could solve even global problems around these things like IDs and all these documents that are quite important, of course, as individuals to have.

Now, all I did there was start to think differently. And then they asked me, "How is it that you got to this point where you thought about this thing just in a different way,right, just beyond over the ticketing systems and all these innovations?"

And mind you, they might have some effect, but for me, does it solve the queue problem? So if you look at South Africa—

So I've been struggling. Now, I haven't struggled throughout childhood. Let's go with the campaign.

And I think we can all agree that is some innovative thinking, some different way of thinking about a common problem. And this is not actually a new thing where you'd see it in Nigeria, where we have pharma wings, which is used to deliver medicine across remote areas, or rather regions that are quite difficult to get to, or rather deliver to, around Nigeria.

We also see it with Project Cumulus, where we are able to produce water. And I think this is in Morocco, if I'm not mistaken, where just using the air, you are able to produce drinking water. Now, I don't know about you, but that's some groundbreaking stuff, not just continentally, but actually globally.

So it's quite clear that South Africa has made its mark to some degree,right? Or rather, Africa, actually. And for me, it's with this immense potential, with this immense creativity, with these immense opportunities, and clearly the usage of technology, how are we using that to rise above where the continent is, or rather to rise above our current circumstances?

Now, sometimes when you take a deeper look into what our problems are, or rather what are the hindrances to our success in our uprising, as I call it, which is the uprising that AI provides, sometimes it's actually how we see ourselves.

I often think, as a continent and as people within the continent, we sometimes see ourselves below par, or needing to do over and above to be at a level like the rest. And for me, that speaks to a mindset problem more than anything.

And as we think that way, we actually shape how people see us. We probably think we are not good enough, yet all these global players are investing in our space, and clearly using some of our resources to activate some of their biggest processes.

I mean, the likes of China. You've seen it with the Chinese cars revolution, where they've brought in a couple of African innovators to come in and build these things, and actually pioneer what we see now, which is a revolution in the car market industry.

Now, when you take a look—and I think I said this earlier—when you take a look at some of what we call your natural minerals, or rather earth minerals, as they say, you'll see that Africa actually holds about 30% of the world's earth minerals.

I put this slide because on one of my visits down to VicFalls, I met up with one of the chiefs there, and we had a long conversation, of course, about some of the problems that Africa faces. But we got to this talk about minerals and all of this, and we started thinking about, cool, so we have all of these minerals that, you know, rich, and clearly we're exporting out to the world, which, yes, is profitable for us to some degree.

These products, or these minerals, then get repackaged or packaged into some product, or rather finished product, whether it's a car part or, in this instance, a car. Then we buy it back into the continent or into the country.

Now, I don't know about you, but something doesn't seemright there. The question then is, are we not seeing our potential? Are we not recognizing the power that we actually have? Are we not seeing the concept of uniting more than anything?

And I say this because this is not a new phenomenon. Many other countries, or rather even continents, have changed their position. You look at China's growth, where it is now. China took an approach that looks at serving China first, before it even serves the international market.

And for me, yes, that took some balls to do, but it actually speaks true to making solutions that work for you before you serve the global market. And I'm sure you've seen with some of the innovations I spoke to earlier, some of the problems that are being solved there are actually not just African problems, but because we are in a position that we don't have much resources.

Creativity, resources, access to things like AI allows us to come up with these things probably at a much faster rate than we would have a couple of years ago. You see where China is, where it's probably also seen as the global factory now,right?

And you see then this turnaround in just the mindset has put China probably neck and neck with a couple of the European countries, so much so that it's gotten a couple of weeks shaking, or rather a couple of mouths talking over way too much more than usual.

Now, the world is normally seen as your oyster, as people like to say. But if we just center around South Africa, my question is, what is the world doing to grow Africa, to grow Africa's potential? What, besides the financial impact, is it actually seeing us as part of the bigger table?

Because sometimes all it takes for something to stand out is an opportunity to just be put on the board. Because as Africans, we always embrace what they call the spirit or a sense of Ubuntu in our country, but I think the spirit and a sense of simplicity, and that makes us unique to some degree.

But also, it affords us, or rather it challenges us, to look within the door and understand where is our key? How can we unlock what's behind the door for Africa? Now, whether it's a united Africa, whether it's a united currency for Africa, those actually are not conversations we should focus on.

For me, we should focus on the goal. What do we want to achieve as a continent? Do we want to actually be part of the bigger table, and not just consumers, but rather actually producers on the bigger table?

Now, if you look at just AI adoption in Africa, these are figures that tell you that this is not a phenomenon that's actually new to us. We have already invested some degree of companies and investment, even in learning spaces, whether it's universities and even in some primary and high schools, where we're starting to actually talk about AI and the opportunities it provides.

Now, if you look at just the essay intelligence market, that's very similar to the one I saw you guys saw earlier. Just in the next 10 years, we're probably looking at close to about a 72 million rand difference in terms of just a market that's there, and that's available for us to tap into.

Now, we need to step back and actually ask ourselves, like, deep within our minds, our consciousness, really ask ourselves, do we reimagine how people see us? Are we potentially putting ourselves behind the queue, or rather behind the seat?

Do we need to start thinking differently about who we are, or what Africa represents, and the immense potential that is behind it? Because I sometimes think that we need to shy away from all the fluff and the big words around AI, and actually start to put our hands there, put our hands, get our hands dirty, and actually play with these tools and resources that are available to us.

But my question then goes back to something that I asked earlier. What does AI mean to you? If you're an African, what are these opportunities that resources are there, creativity is clearly there, what does it mean to you?

And if you're in the European market, what can you do to make sure that Africa stands on its own two feet, not just as a participant, but as an active player in the market? Now, what AI means to all of us is quite different,right?

Whether it enhances the ability for us to think through certain situations, we all need to start thinking around, really, really, does AI give us everything we need? Or we've actually had everything we need, but AI just unlocks that potential, or rather makes us see that we've actually been putting ourselves in the back of everything.

Now, I always say, the world is really your oyster, and it's really a picture best defined by what it means to you. My name is Thabang Ledwaba, and I hope you enjoyed this talk. But over and above everything, the most important thing is, on X, you can find me on tl_ledwaba, and I work at BBD Software as a senior software engineer, as well as an R&D engineer.

I hope you enjoyed this talk. Thank you.