By Nokuphila Haji | 2024-10-16

Mbabane ESWATINI is ready to become Africa’s hub for Artificial Intelligence (AI) development and deployment.

This was revealed by Minister of Information, Communication and Technology Savannah Maziya at the Gitex Global 2024 in Dubai. The minister said the country had the infrastructure and an investment friendly environment.

Maziya said His Majesty King Mswati III in his vision and wisdom also established the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP). She said with a population of 1.2 million that was predominantly young and educated, Eswatini was set to become a significant force in the digital economy. She said this vision was alive today and the RSTP was a hub for innovation by housing a tier three data centre with plans for two tier four centres. She said this was making Eswatini a future-proof, digital-first nation.

Maziya said Eswatini was leveraging this world-class infrastructure to lead the way in AI, biotechnology, data equity, geographical inclusion and cyber security. She said the park was also incubating businesses that transform government services by making them more efficient and accessible. Maziya said the country was also ready to house the state-of-art data centres, drive innovation and semiconductor productions. Maziya said the African digital compact and the continental artificial intelligence strategy provided a framework for collaboration. She said Eswatini was ready to also lead, but could not do it alone.

“If we are to capture our share of the AI-driven economy, we must act by building now and ensuring that technology truly becomes the new oil not just for a few, but for all,” she said. Maziya said together they could ensure that Africa’s rise was inclusive, sustainable and rooted in innovation. She said the future that they were about to build was staggering in its possibilities. it has been forecasted that AI has the potential to contribute an astounding $16 trillion (E272 trillion) to the global economy by 2030. She said Africa was projected to secure $1.2 trillion (E20.4 trillion) of this. She said Africa’s current economy stands at $3.1 trillion (E52.7 trillion). Maziya said this might have a huge transformative impact of a single sector contributing a significant share. She said in the next two decades, the continent’s population was expected to reach 2.5 billion and it would be a youthful population that would be full of potential.

Through the RSTP, Eswatini was creating an ecosystem for AI, biotech, advanced connectivity, robotics, climate tech, digital decentralisation and space technology. “Our government’s commitment is firm. We have designed a special economic zone around RSTP, which provides a predictable, incentive-driven regulatory framework that guarantees certainty for investors,” she said.

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