The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit for Africa, hosted by the Zimbabwe Independent (ZimInd) in Victoria Falls this week, was more than just a gathering of technologists. It was a national clarion call.
Discussions during the event painted an urgent picture that AI is not some distant sci-fi fantasy. It is a present-day tsunami of change. How Zimbabwe responds will shape our economic and social trajectory for generations.
The announcement of a forthcoming National AI Policy by ICT, Postal and Courier Services minister Tatenda Mavetera marked an important first step.
As she noted, this framework is essential to accelerate adoption across key sectors. Yet, policy alone is inert. Its true worth will be judged by its ability to catalyse tangible investment and infrastructure.
The global figure of US$200 billion invested in AI, highlighted at the summit, underscored the ferocious pace of progress elsewhere. Zimbabwe’s policy must be irresistibly attractive to capital. It must create an ecosystem where innovation is actively funded and deployed.
The potential for AI to transform agriculture is particularly compelling. AI-driven precision farming, as discussed, offers a powerful antidote to the unpredictability of climate change. This is not a pipe dream, but an achievable efficiency that could boost productivity and food security.
Similarly, the push to harness AI in digital financial services promises to deepen financial inclusion, delivering tailored, data-driven solutions to entrepreneurs and consumers who have long been excluded from formal banking.
AI expert Arthur Mutambara emphasised the need to “break free from AI bias”.
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An AI system is only as objective as the data it is trained on. Importing foreign AI models trained on foreign datasets risks importing their inherent biases and cultural blind spots. An AI-trained on-loan applications from the global north, for instance, will almost certainly fail to fairly assess the creditworthiness of a talented Zimbabwean artisan with an unconventional business record.
This is why Mutambara’s call for sovereign intelligence is so vital. Zimbabwe must build its own capacity to develop and train AI systems that understand our unique context, challenges, and opportunities.
Mavetera also spoke of an Ubuntu-driven AI future. Ubuntu philosophy, with its emphasis on community, shared humanity, and collective advancement, provides a radically different and desperately needed ethical compass. It asks not only “can we build it?”, but also “should we build it, and for whose benefit”?
Embedding this principle into our national AI strategy will ensure that technology serves people, not the other way around. It will ensure that the AI revolution in Zimbabwe is inclusive, equitable, and distinctly Zimbabwean.
The summit has set the stage, with Zimbabwe’s biggest business weekly at the centre of a vital cause.
