• Guinea launched consultations to draft a national AI strategy after an October assessment supported by the UNDP.

• The country scored 30.21/100 on Oxford Insights’ 2024 AI Readiness Index, below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 32.70.

• Mauritius, South Africa and Rwanda lead the continent with scores of 53.94, 52.91 and 51.25 respectively.

Guinea is accelerating the structuring of its digital transformation as authorities move to design a national artificial intelligence strategy.

The Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy (MPTEN) met last week with sectoral Strategic Development Bureaus (BSD). The ministry convened the meeting to analyse the findings of the national AI landscape assessment (AILA) workshop held in October with support from the UN Development Programme.

Apollinaire Loua, director-general of the BSDs at MPTEN, presided over the meeting. He led participants in identifying sector-specific needs, opportunities and constraints as well as the first actions required to integrate AI technologies into public policies.

The ministry said the collaborative approach aims to root the future national strategy in field realities. It added that involving the BSDs — the bodies charged with implementing public policies — will ensure intersectoral consistency, which is essential for a controlled adoption of AI tools in public administration.

Guinea scored 30.21 out of 100 in the 2024 AI Readiness Index published by UK-based Oxford Insights. The country remains below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 32.70.

Mauritius, South Africa and Rwanda led the continental ranking with respective scores of 53.94, 52.91 and 51.25.

This article was initially published in French by Adoni Conrad Quenum

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum