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Meet The 20 MTN-MIP 2022 Fellows
Published
2 years agoon
Twenty media professionals across the country have been selected for the maiden Media Innovation Programme by MTN Nigeria in partnership with the School of Media and Communications, Pan-Atlantic University.
The six-month fully funded fellowship is for innovative storytellers and media leaders that will equip them with new skills needed to function in the rapidly changing media world.
The MTN Media Innovation Programme began on May 23, 2022 and will run until October 28, 2022. The MTN-MIP Fellows cut across print, broadcast, online and social media.
Wondering who the 2022 MTN-MIP Fellows are? See their bios below!
- Abidemi Diaro
Abidemi Dairo is a Senior producer/reporter with Channels Television and has been reporting on the showbiz industry since November 2008. He is a seasoned journalist with a background in traditional print media. Before transiting to broadcast, Dairo received certification in journalism and special reporting from the Timbuktu Media Training Institute.
From movies to music, fashion and general lifestyle stories, he has reported from within and outside the shores of the country and has interviewed celebrities from Nigeria and abroad.
He has displayed exemplary knowledge of the showbiz industry and has been featured as a subject matter analyst on some other media platforms. He currently produces the daily Entertainment News on Channels Television.
- Adeyemi Adepetun
Adeyemi Adepetun is the Assistant Editor, Communications and Technology Desk at The Guardian Newspaper. He holds both an MSc and BSc in Mass Communications; MBA in Finance and HND in Banking and Finance. He is also an Associate of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (ANIPR).
Adeyemi has 15 years of journalism experience and nine years specifically in the reportage of information and communications technology (ICT). On the ICT desk, he has written several stories that have shaped the sector and equally set the agenda for government at the different levels.
He is a well-travelled journalist, within and outside Africa, for training, and coverage of telecoms, ICT and business conferences. He has also won several industry recognitions and awards. He is currently the MTN Telecoms Reporter of the Year 2020 at the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA). Adeyemi is married with kids. He is gentle, inquisitive, helpful and loves reading and travelling.
- Agbonkhese Oboh
Agbonkhese Oboh is a hands-on and motivated team player. He is an expert communicator, writer and editor.
He is Deputy Online Editor – currently acting as Online Editor – of Vanguard Newspapers. He has a strong background in newspaper publication, networking in the media space and creating a presence in the multi-media space.
Currently, he is getting grounded in videography, video and photo editing, digital reporting, audience interaction and engagement and specific writing for a specific online audience.
He has a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mass Communication, Auchi Polytechnic; Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, both in Literature-in-English. The first is from Lagos State University (LASU), and the other, the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Agbonkhese has been commended for his emotional intelligence and enjoys learning and teaching.
- Ameh Ejekwonyilo
Ameh Ejekwonyilo is a Senior Reporter on the Judiciary, Human Rights and Anti-corruption Desk of Premium Times Newspaper. He is also a joint winner of Premium Times’ Best Story of the Year 2021.
Ameh is also a 2021 grantee of the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists, which was sponsored by the National Geographic Society, Washington, U.S.
He writes on the impacts of violent conflicts on vulnerable people.
He applied for the MTN Nigeria Media Innovation Programme (MIP) with hopes to acquire innovative skills in the telecommunications sector. He also sought to be a part of the MIP in order to horn his journalistic skills with a view to exploring entrepreneurial opportunities in the media and technology industry.
- Chima Akwaja
Chima Akwaja is the Technology Editor of Leadership.. He elevates ICT reporting in Nigeria with major exclusives, breaking news, and incisive and carefully researched feature articles.
Popularly called “The HOD”, Chima has covered numerous ICT events across the globe. His working experiences cut across National Newspapers, International Tech Magazines and Online Media. He was a Lead Contributor to the INVEST IN NIGERIA 2010 Handbook, a foreign investment publication for Nigerian High Commission, United Kingdom.
Chima is a winner of the 2006 AISI Media Awards of the ECA/AISI/IICD; 2009 IT Champion Award by the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN); ICT Journalist of the Year at the Titans of Tech 2019 Awards; Most Outstanding ICT Editor 2019 and ICT Editor of the Decade 2020 at the Africa Digital Awards respectively.
Chima holds M.A and B.Sc degrees in Mass Communications from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Imo State University, Owerri (IMSU). He has attended training sessions at Pan Atlantic University, and the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), among others.
- Damilola Fajinmi
Damilola Fajinmi is a Media & Communications Professional with a demonstrated history of over eight years working in the media production industry. She is a radio broadcaster, content creator, voice actor, and scriptwriter, and is also skilled in marketing communications, and media buying.
Dami Faj as she is called by her faves is a family and health enthusiast. This passion led to the creation of her radio shows; Parenting Conversations with Dami Faj on Beat 97.9 FM Ibadan and Sabi Ya Health. She also co-anchors Toko Taya (Mr & Mrs ) an indigenous program on Naija 102.7 Ibadan.
She is outgoing and very energetic with strong communication and interpersonal skills. She is a well-organised professional with a track record that demonstrates self-motivation, creativity and initiative to achieve corporate and personal goals. In November 2021 she won an award for best performance in Media Plan Compliance in the southwest region.
Damilola is interested in young adults and she enjoys helping them discover who they are so they can think bigger and build better.
Damilola loves music, podcasts and checklists and loves to learn and apply. She enjoys quiet moments, reading, watching movies and spending quality time with her family.
- Daniel Adeyemi
Daniel Adeyemi is curious about how technology is impacting the lives of Africans. As a senior reporter at TechCabal, Daniel writes mostly about big tech and high growth companies operating in Africa. He shares insights from investors in the African ecosystem through his bi-monthly column, Ask an Investor.
Before joining TechCabal, he spent the past 4 years working in the tech and consulting industry as an Accountant. Outside work, Daniel spends his time reading, playing/watching soccer, volunteering with the TEDxLagos team and occasionally painting masterpieces.
He applied for the Media Innovation Programme in order to gain an expanded view of the media space and to become more valuable to his organisation and society.
- Elsie Godwin
Elsie Godwin is a versatile Media Personality – TV/Radio Presenter & Producer, Blogger, Writer, Conversationalist, Content Creator, Facilitator and Marketing, Brands & Corporate Communication Specialist. She is a Co-Anchor & Co-Producer on WAYS Show Africa showing weekdays on DSTV CH 408/Startimes Ch 308/GOTV Ch 112 and the producer and Anchor of Reviews on the Couch.
Her passion for creating content and impactful conversation led her into broadcasting where she has interviewed over 300 successful businessmen and women, across different industries in Nigeria, Africa & Beyond. She is passionate about telling stories of and having conversations with successful people in order to help shape the Nigerian and African narrative and to mentor the younger generation.
In her capacity as a media influencer, she works closely with media agencies (BHM, Plaqad, H+K Strategies, DottsMedia, Alder Consulting, Anakle, etc) to help create and share amazing brand stories. She’s also a Google influencer affiliate.
- Esther Ndu
Esther Ndu is a News Producer currently working at Arise News. She co-produces the mid-day news, the exchange news and the entertainment news daily. In addition to her day job as a journalist, she is also a member of the board of trustees in a private primary school.
Esther believes in broadcasting authentic news in a simple and easy to understand manner. She has been named producer of the year and is reliable when given tasks.
Esther holds a BA in Classics from the University of Ibadan and a professional certificate in Basic Presentation from the National Broadcast Academy, Nigeria. She is always seeking knowledge in order to impact her generation meaningfully, as she believes that everything should be done to better humankind and honour God.
She joined the Media Innovation Programme in order to learn more about the nexus between information and communication technology and how to use these to improve the media sector in Nigeria.
She loves children and hopes to write about them. She also cherishes her quiet time.
- Mike Okwoche
Mike Okwoche is an award-winning international broadcast journalist. He is a Senior Anchor and Head of Newscasters at Television Continental (TVC) in Lagos, Nigeria.
He is a graduate of Public Administration from the University of Maiduguri in Borno State. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the National Open University of Nigeria.
He is an Associate Lecturer at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos as an instructor on Broadcast Presentation. He is the Country Director of media and communications for Mater Africa, an international NGO on humanitarian aid based in Italy and Nigeria.
He is an Alumnus of the United States International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), a program he ran in Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina and California.
He has bagged the Newscaster of the Year award by the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) in 2019. He also won the Nigeria Broadcasters Merit Award (NBMA) in 2014.
He was the project coordinator of the Media Literacy campaign for the U.S. Department of State in Nigeria which was administered by AlumniTIES in Washington DC.
Mike is the President of the United States Government Exchange Alumni Association in Nigeria, an association created by the United States Mission in Nigeria to rally U.S. exchange alumni members in partnership to cause positive social change wherever they are.
He is the founder of Rewired Africa Media Network, a media content agency passionate about civic education, training, advocacy and mentoring in Nigeria.
He is married to Emem Okwoche with two lovely daughters, Elsie and Eliana.
- Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen
Nahimah Ajikanle Nurudeen is the Founder and Lead Strategist at TenticP Communications Nigeria Limited. She is a seasoned journalist and media practitioner with over 14 years of experience in the Media industry. She is currently the Managing Editor, AP News published by TenticP Communications.
Nahimah has a keen history of working in the media industry with excellent skill demonstrations in Corporate Communications, Strategic Planning, Marketing Communication, News Writing and Editing as well as Advocacy/ Communication for Social Change.
Having worked previously with Daily Trust newspapers covering several sectors of the Nigerian economy, she has deep knowledge of the nation’s business environment and social, cultural and political landscape.
Nahimah holds a Master’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Lagos and is currently a PhD student at the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo.
She is widely travelled for both local and international workshops and training.
- Peter Oluka
Oluka, Peter Ikenna is a practising ICT Journalist; Technopreneur, and Speech Writer, amongst other Media & Public Relations interests.
He is currently running TechEconomy.ng, a digital news platform that focuses on Business-People-Platforms-Institutions leveraging technology to enhance productivity and challenge the quantum of inadequacies in emerging economies like Nigeria/Africa.
Prior to that, he worked at the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek – a medium with a penchant for ICT reportage – as a Senior Reporter.
Peter started his mainstream journalism in 2010 with the Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper based in Ogun State.
He also co-founded GrassRoots.ng, a news platform rooted in speaking for the global citizen. He also superintended the launch of NewsRepublic247.com.
Peter is currently the Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Njalo.ng; an online marketplace for ‘Classified’.
He obtained PGD (Mass Communications) from NOUN in 2015 and HND (Mass Communication) from the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu in 2008.
Peter describes his quest for journalism and media practices as exceptional.
- Rasaq Ayinla
Razaq Adesanya Ayinla is a journalist with over 15 years of practice. He has valuable experience in both Broadcast and Print Journalism. He began his career as a Graduate Intern at Cub Reporter and graduated as Staff Reporter, Proof-Reader, Assistant Editor, Regional Editor and News Editor.
He currently prepares, collates and edits news stories and features from Southwest and Kwara States. He edits and produces news across western Nigeria for BusinessDay and makes daily editorial contributions to the paper’s general and specialised pages.
- Sakina Ahmed
Sakina Ahmed began her career in broadcast journalism when she was employed by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria as an Assistant Translator and posted to one of its FM stations in Yola in 2011.
She is currently working as a Reporter for Fombina FM Yola with a passion for reporting on health, the environment and women and girl child rights.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Language and Communication Arts from Modibbo Adamawa University, Yola
She applied for the MTN Media innovation program to gain the required innovative skills needed to recognize opportunities that will help her improve her career prospects and equally be an important contribution to society.
- Samson Akintaro
Samson Akintaro is a seasoned journalist with a knack for technology reporting. Akintaro started his journalism career in 2005 at the now-defunct Financial Standard Newspaper, from where he was drafted to the ICT Desk as a young reporter.
Being a versatile reporter, he joined another special publication, Stockswatch, in 2008, where he became a Capital Market correspondent for the paper. However, his love of tech reporting saw him move to a specialised and one of the leading ICT Magazines in the country, IT & Telecom Digest, in April 2011.
At IT & Telecom Digest, he rose from the position of a reporter to become a senior editorial staff of the publication, taking responsibility for the editorial content of the Magazine, while projecting the industry to the world through his reportage.
In April 2018, he joined the New Telegraph Newspaper as ICT Editor, a position he currently occupies. His incisive and illuminating writings about the Nigerian ICT/Telecom industry earned him a nomination for the Telecom Reporter of the Year in 2019 at the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA). In 2020, he emerged as ICT Reporter of The Year, at the prestigious Africa Digital Awards (ADA).
In April 2022, he joined Nairametrics as Tech Analyst, where he continues to report and analyse issues in the ICT industry.
- Temitayo Jaiyeola
Temitayo Jaiyeola is a technology correspondent at the PUNCH newspaper. He is interested in stories that explore the intersection between tech and human activities. He is a data enthusiast, loves numbers, and insists that he should have studied Economics.
He writes prose and poetry when he isn’t haunted by the ghost of deadlines. Some of his writings have received positive nods — he was second runner-up for the Quramo Writers Prize in 2019.
When he is not writing or reading, he often folds inwards or takes random strolls.
- Ugo Unwuaso
Onwuaso Ugochukwu Francis, is a tech and ICT enthusiast, working with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek as a Senior Correspondent covering ICT, Business and Logistics.
He believes that technology is at the core of our ever-changing and evolving world and has written several articles on technology since he started covering the sector.
He has received several professional and capacity trainings on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) organized by reputable companies like Google, Microsoft, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), etc.
Ugochukwu is the 2019 and 2021 winner of CommunicationsWeek’s Best Employee of the Year award.
Ugochukwu is a native of Awka, in Anambra State and is married with four beautiful children.
He holds a post-graduate degree in Public Administration (MPA) from Lagos State University, and an HND degree in Business Administration and Management from Lagos State Polytechnic, Isolo.
- Uhuotu Omilabu
Uhuotu Omilabu is a young, aspiring and resourceful broadcast journalist with a strong passion to stay above mediocrity as a reporter, editor and compere.
With a degree in Communication Arts, Uhuotu has contributed to the media space with reports on topical issues bothering on women and girls’ issues, health, education, agriculture etc.
She has been a part of several training sessions within her state of practice and across the nation. Uhuotu currently serves in the News Department of Inspiration FM, Uyo as a producer, reporter, editor and show host which highlights her versatility in the media profession.
Holding fast to honesty and integrity as core values, her philosophy is to treat people the way you want to be treated. She strongly believes that this will make the world a better place. Uhuotu is married with children.
- Vanessa Obioha
Vanessa Obioha, a writer and a journalist joined THISDAY Newspapers in 2012 as a contributing writer. She became a staff member in 2016, covering lifestyle and entertainment. However, she has ranged broadly across the newspaper pages, reporting on politics, business, sports, tourism, human interest, and other subjects.
She has also profiled prominent personalities in the entertainment and lifestyle sector in the lifestyle section of the Sunday paper, The Glitterati.
In 2015, she was nominated for the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Awards.
Vanessa is also interested in poetry and has taken a screenwriting course with the New York Film Academy. She is a graduate of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism with distinction in Mass Communication.
With an eclectic taste in music, she enjoys listening to beautiful sounds, watching films and TV series, reading, travelling and discovering new cultures.
- Wasilat Azeez
Wasilat Azeez is a finance journalist, data enthusiast and fact-checker. She holds a first-class honours bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos.
She began her journalism career as a graduate intern with the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF) in 2020. Upon completing the programme, she got automatic employment at TheCable, Nigeria’s independent online newspaper.
She is passionate about spotlighting women and persons with disabilities (PWDs), especially those who have made outstanding records in their respective fields by overcoming barriers and beating the odds to reach their goals.
As a budding academic in gender and development, Wasilat has co-authored a research paper on The Role of Associations of Women Journalists in Promoting the Interests of Female Journalists in Nigeria.
She believes that the MTN-MIP will help her grow in her journalism career by increasing her knowledge of the telecoms industry.
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Africa’s Tech Skills Development Goes Beyond the Classroom-SAP
Published
6 months agoon
June 13, 2024Tech skills development in Africa is increasingly going beyond the borders of the classroom as organisations take novel approaches to addressing pervasive skills availability constraints.
Kholiwe Makhohliso, Managing Director at SAP Southern Africa, says upskilling and mobilising Africa’s considerable skills base is a defining opportunity for the future success of the continent. “Digital technologies continue to shape industries and businesses throughout the continent, driving high levels of demand for professionals with relevant skills. As the pace of technological change continues to accelerate, organisations increasingly need new approaches to skills development to keep in step with the latest advances in cloud, AI and other transformative technologies.”
SAP’s 2023 report ‘Africa’s Tech Skills Scarcity Revealed’ laid bare significant challenges with skills availability among organisations in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The report revealed that low levels of tech skills availability affect most organisations, with four in five companies reporting negative consequences from a lack of tech skills.
While the tech skills gap persists globally – with McKinsey finding that 87% of global senior executives reported their companies were not adequately prepared to address the skills gap – the situation can be more acute for African organisations.
Cloud, AI skills in high demand
According to Manos Raptopoulos, President: SAP EMEA, skills availability has become even more important in light of the ongoing impact of cloud and artificial intelligence on the region. “Enterprises throughout the region are leveraging powerful new cloud and AI capabilities to transform their business models and accelerate growth and innovation. As the business landscape becomes increasingly shaped by the power of these technologies, organisations need access to relevant skills to ensure they reap the benefits of the cloud and AI revolution.”
SAP launched new learning opportunities for developers in 2023, focusing on cloud and generative AI capabilities. SAP Build Code solutions offer AI-powered productivity tools for developers and draws on the power of SAP’s AI co-pilot Joule to boost productivity and embed code generation capabilities for a range of applications, from data model and application logic to test script creation.
The company also launched new role-based certification and free learning resources for back-end developers in 2023 as part of a global commitment to upskill two million professionals by 2025.
Work-ready skills for graduates
The SAP Young Professionals Program (YPP), offered by the Digital Skills Centre of SAP, extends the company’s skills development efforts to graduates. YPP is aimed at enabling young talent to utilise the latest SAP technology and innovation, and covers software functional and technical knowledge and certification, with a strong focus on the latest technologies and a range of soft skills to ease entry into the workplace.
Since its launch in 2012, the SAP Young Professionals Program has trained and graduates more than 4100 candidates across 41 countries, including over 1900 in Africa alone.
Vincent Mabeka, a 2023 graduate from South Africa, says the SAP Young Professionals Program helped him improve his skills, learn about new technologies and gain hands-on experience and unlock new job opportunities.
“The Young Professionals Program required dedication, hard work and passion, but rewarded me with guidance, feedback and recognition for my skills and capabilities. This has helped me secure a job as an SAP Solutions Advisor where I apply the knowledge and skills I learned to exciting projects. Thanks to the resources and network I developed during my time on the program, I continue to learn and expand my skills and abilities.”
Youth skills development in focus
With the world’s fastest-growing youth population, any digital skills efforts in Africa must extend to the continent’s young people. Africa’s working-age population is predicted to grow to more than 600 million by 2030, constituting a quarter of the world’s under-25s. But digital skills remain elusive among Africa’s youth, despite a projected 70% of jobs expected to require digital skills by the end of the decade.
Enter SAP Africa Code Week (ACW), a coding skills development programme aimed at youth that is held annually in partnership with UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, and Irish Aid.
Since its inception in 2015, ACW has successfully empowered 17 million young people across 54 countries with coding and computational thinking skills, while close partnerships with NGOs and governments across the continent has helped drive the inclusion of coding in national curricula.
Toward the end of 2023, SAP also announced a new pilot project in partnership with UNICEF and other public-private organisations aimed at preparing underserved youth for the digital workforce. The SAP Educate to Employ initiative targets youth aged 16 to 24 and provides soft skills foundational knowledge using the Student Zone portal on SAP’s learning site. The knowledge prepares youth for a possible career in technology, with potential roles in development, consulting and support.
Makhohliso says the support of a broad range of partners is essential to overcoming youth skills challenges on the continent. “By directly addressing youth unemployment and inspiring our vibrant youth to pursue careers in the exciting world of technology, we together with our partners hope to mobilise the potential of our continent to become leading players in the future digital economy.”
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Schneider Electric Targets 900m Africans With Sustainable Energy Solutions
Published
6 months agoon
June 13, 2024Schneider Electric said it is targeting 900 million Africans including 95 million Nigerians with universal access to sustainable energy solutions in rural communities by fostering a greener and more resilient future.
The global energy provider said it is committed to providing access to clean electricity to 50 million by 2025, and 100 million by 2030. To date, 46.5 million people have already benefited from Schneider’s energy access solutions.
The country president, Schneider Electric West Africa, Ajibola Akindele, speaking at the Energy Access Investment Forum (EAIF) conference, held in Lagos, recently, said they have a wide range of Access to Energy solutions suitable for electrifying small homes and micro-enterprises, fundamental public services, up to villages and communities.
“Our mission is to be a global digital partner for sustainability and efficiency, empowering all to make the most of our energy resources, bridge progress and sustainability for all. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life is On,” he said.
Director MEAS, Access to Energy, Schneider Electric, Thomas Bonicel, speaking on Schneider Electric’s Access to Energy (A2E) program, emphasized the program’s mission to empower communities through clean and reliable energy access including training & entrepreneurship programs, social & inclusive business, and investment funds.
“There are over 700 million people across the world without access to energy, 600 million in Africa and 95 million in Nigeria; at Schneider Electric, we have decided to deploy our Access to Energy solutions in Nigeria.
“Our major KPI is the impact measured by the quantity of connected people and with Villaya Flex, our latest innovation, we are ready to support independent electricity access and renewable energy adoption in remote villages and off-grid communities,” he said.
The commercial leader, Microgrid, Schneider Electric, Teina Teibowei, said, Villaya Flex, a packaged, comprehensive microgrid solution, is specifically designed for rural, off-the-grid communities and aims to ensure a dependable and sustainable energy supply to meet daily needs and power productive economic activities in these
Teibowei also noted the Nigerian government and the World Bank’s joint efforts to extend electricity access to rural Nigerian villages, adding that Schneider Electric’s Villaya Flex microgrid solution is well-positioned to tackle the electrification challenges of these remote communities, potentially serving as a valuable asset for the World Bank’s Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project.
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Create AI Strategies In Line With Your Business Strategies – Deloitte West Africa Tells Firms
Published
6 months agoon
June 8, 2024Data Science and Analytics Leader at Deloitte West Africa, Jania Okwechime, has advised firms to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) responsibly and sustainably by creating AI strategies in with their business plans. According to her, businesses also need to put governance and risk processes in place so that they can innovate with trust and confidence.
Jania Okwechime disclosed this at an interview with the media at the sidelines of the just-ended 8th Ghana CEO Summit held in Accra. She mentioned that in this era, AI is transforming businesses more than anything else in the world and therefore called on institutions across West Africa to embrace AI.
Jania also advised businesses to take advantage of AI to improve and accelerate their products and services for the benefit of their customers. Although she acknowledges the growing adoption of AI in West Africa, she stated that the adoption of AI globally has moved from the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) stage to more implementation stage.
“In the African continent, we are still experimenting with some of the opportunities that the AI can generate for the people. So, we see adoption, but it could get accelerated”.
“I think it is not going to be long before they would see the impact of AI. You already saw some of the presenters [8th Ghana CEO Summit] today specifically in the telecoms and advertising industry that, AI is already being leveraged by businesses. We are only going to see the acceleration in the next coming years”.
Why AI has become a buzzword
She noted that although Artificial Intelligence has been around for decades, AI has now become a buzzword.
According to her though Artificial Intelligence has been around for decades, businesses have now realised its importance and are now taking advantage of it because of the data explosion.
“Every time an action is created, data is formed. Every time we send a text message, every time we pick up the phone to make a phone call, every time we pick our favorite series on Netflix, it’s creating data. So, there’s a huge data explosion”, she mentioned.
“Ninety percent of the data that we used today were created in the past two years. So, you can imagine. Now we have no choice but to harness technology like AI to be able to gain insights”, she added.
Generative AI and the traditional AI
Touching on Generative AI and traditional AI, Jania reiterates the differences between the former and the latter.
In her words: “The difference is that Generative AI can perform tasks predominantly done by humans. Like reading documents, creating documents, generating videos, generating reports, etc.”
“Now, it is making AI more accessible to businesses in a way that they can harness in three different ways. They can change the way they interact with their customers and increase customer experience internally within their network and their internal organisations. So, that they can improve internal statistics”, she pointed out.
Continuing, she said by harnessing AI and generative AI, businesses can reduce cost by automating tasks, and can make things more effective and efficient.
“One thing that is key to also mention is why AI and generative AI are used today for automation tasks and improving the set of processes that businesses already have. Businesses that are going to be successful and thriving in the next five years are those which are harnessing AI to transform what they are doing. And this needs some more thinking”, she stated.
Concerns about AI leading to job losses
On concerns of AI leading to job losses and other things, she said: “So, that is the concern right? because I mentioned that there are certain things that AI and generative AI can do today that were predominately done by humans. So, that is a concern, and we understand why. However, it doesn’t need to be”.
We don’t need to worry
“We don’t need to worry about our staff and our talent losing jobs, but rather we must transform the talent. So, things are going to change in businesses. Their staff are going to change the way they work. So, organisations are responsible for upscaling their staff”.
She added that “Because their roles are going to be transformed. Instead of one person being in charge of creating a report, now that person needs to know how to use and leverage AI solutions to be able to interpret that report to be able to make strategic decisions. So, AI has a big implication on talent and the responsibility and the responsibility of the organisations to invest in the talent and upscale it”.