Vanuatu Trade Commission to train 25 million Africans in AI technology – Commissioner

Sunyani, May 21, GNA – The Vanuatu Trade Commission (VTC) is training 25 million people in Africa in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to position the continent to remain relevant in the era of technology.

According to Prof. Hugh Aryee, the Vanuatu Trade Commissioner to Ghana, more than 300,000 Ghanaians nationwide would benefit from the training, which was in line with a project the commission in collaboration with the African Diaspora Central Bank was implementing in Africa.

The African Diaspora Central Bank embodies six regions in Africa, comprising Diasporian family members, who have realized the need, and are returning to help rebuild the continent for common good.

Prof Aryee was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sunyani Technical University in Sunyani.

The MoU sought to train 1,500 students, faculty and staff of the university in AI technology as part of the project. Prof Aryee said: “If Africa would want to be part of this industrial revolution, then it is important that the African nation embraces this opportunity”, saying, “the market woman, the church leader, industrialist, the farmer and journalist, in fact, everybody needs the AI technology.”

Africa, he explained, had lost that opportunity to equip itself with the first, second and the third industrial revolutions, saying as the “Alfa generation” ended in 2024 to give in for the “Meta generation” in 2025, there was the need for Africa to take the mantle now to remain relevant on the globe.

“The Meta generation is where we have blockchain, crypto, and AI and for that matter we believe that if we don’t take up the mantle now, it would be difficult for us in Africa to embrace or to be a part of the fourth industrial revolution,” he stated.

“We believe that in as much as we don’t want to be left behind as a continent, we want to be able to give the opportunity for everyone to be trained in that new era which brings or birthed the fourth industrial revolution.”

AI technology, Prof Aryee, explained, would be able to solve so many problems that surrounded the various environments on the continent, and expressed the hope that by training people between 18 and 65 years, Africa would be able to brace itself to be part of the new education of the world.

Prof Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, the Vice Chancellor of the STU, lauded the project, and expressed the optimism that the university community would make themselves ready, as the world transitioned from fossil to renewable energy.