Minister Libom Li Likeng stated announced on day one of the event that the government is planning to develop the sector by training 60,000 AI-talents as it looks to create 12, 000 direct AI-related jobs by 2040.
The second national consultation on artificial intelligence in Cameroon will round up in Yaounde today. The closing ceremony of the event which flagged of yesterday, is expected to be presided over by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Minette Libom Li Likeng. The event will mark an end of a two-day event that had participants and experts brainstorming on developing a government policy that will facilitate the efficient use of the AI in the country dubbed the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence. The activity is organized under the theme: “Promoting an inclusive and sustainable digital economy by adopting artificial intelligence for an emerging Cameroon”.
The opening ceremony which was presided over by the Minister Libom Li Likeng of posts and telecommunications, was attended by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Public Works, Ibrahim Talba Malla and the representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, Hilaire Mputu. During the two-day activity, participants held discussions addressing digital infrastructure, data and connectivity, talent, skills and research, the role of international cooperation in the sphere of competitiveness in the age of the AI among others. Speaking during the opening ceremony, Minister Libom Li Likeng said the government is keen to use the scheme to develop a befitting program on the AI that will boost the productive and more efficient use of the tool in the country with priority on giving full consideration to the Cameroonian reality.
“We need to be sure that the artificial intelligence that is running in Cameroon is taking into consideration our needs, our culture so that our young people and our experts master the development of the tool,” the minister said. “In the world, there are two groups of people : those who create, those who innovate, and others are consumers. In Cameroon since we have well-trained young people, we want to be those people who create. We want to be those who can control their AI at the national level,” the member of government added. She stated that the government is planning to develop the sector by training 60,000 AI-talents by 2040 and creating 12, 000 direct AI-related jobs by 2040.
The minister said such interventions will boost productivity and position the sector as one of the biggest employers and major contributors in the gross domestic products of the country with eyes on between 0.8% and 1.2% of the GDP. Minister Libom Likeng added that such achievement will position Cameroon as the hub of artificial intelligence on the African continent by 2040.
UNESCO says fully committed to cause
The representative of UNESCO Hilaire Mputu stated in an interview at the end of the opening ceremony that the United Nations agency is fully committed to accompanying Cameroon in the cause like it has done in other projects over the years. “The role of UNESCO to frame the use, the exploitation of artificial intelligence. UNESCO supports the country in the framework of the ethics of artificial intelligence, to make sure that the effects that could be perverse in the exploitation, in the use of artificial intelligence, can be eliminated,” Hilaire Mputu said.
