State of artificial intelligence eco-system in Ethiopia

The purpose of this study is to assess the state of the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in Ethiopia and provide endorsements for Ethiopian AI policymakers, national strategy developers, and stakeholders. This is done by surveying robotic, data, and computing infrastructure, policies, and strategies toward AI adoption within government organizations, AI workforce, and AI startups in Ethiopia. Studies conducted employing semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, a physical review of research and data infrastructures, organizational-based document reviews, web visits, and literature studies. The data collection involves 32 organizations including ministries, universities, research institutions, and private companies, and 61 AI startups in Ethiopia. The survey data compared with selected top African nations in AI adoption potentials. The study revealed that Ethiopia lags compared to some African nations in publishing AI policies and strategies, implementing legal frameworks, assessing the ethical risks of AI solutions on societies, and creating schemes for supporting AI startups. The survey also discloses that the lack of AI policy and strategy in the country affects AI stakeholders to design and create short- and long-term action-oriented strategies. This study implies that focus needs to be given to AI skills and infrastructure development, access to data, investment in AI R&D, and cooperation while creating AI policies and strategies. This paper has made a unique attempt to assess the company-level state of AI to provide inputs to the policymakers for framing a comprehensive and meaningful policy on AI for Ethiopia.