By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Organisers of a tech and start-up event taking place in Morocco next month, GITEX Africa 2024, are gearing up to welcome leading Nigerian tech firms, who have promised to showcase their innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) products.
Nigerian start-ups are leading an epic AI innovation race with innovative digital solutions solving cross-continental challenges.
FundusAI, Africa’s first AI-powered diabetic care ecosystem, is an example of Nigerian-borne innovation allowing doctors to detect Diabetic Retinopathy early, and will be one of more than 60 of the most outstanding Nigerian start-ups among hundreds of global start-ups at the forthcoming programme.
“Our product stands out as Africa’s first AI-powered ecosystem for diabetic care,” said FundusAI’s CEO and Founder Abulmalik Adeyemo, who wants to diagnose more than five million patients annually by 2027, while expanding FundusAI’s scope to address additional eye health issues.
“FundusAI offers automated diagnosis, appointment scheduling, treatment referrals, and community support. Additionally, our gamified data collection ensures personalised healthcare insights.”
Farmatrix is another Nigerian AI game changer at AI Everything Expo by GITEX Africa 2024, a SaaS platform that connects farmers with agro-commodity aggregators and buyers in real-time using advanced AI algorithms, greatly reducing post-harvest loss and boosting profits.
“More than 60 per cent of smallholder farmers in Nigeria lose nearly half of their post-harvest yield because they can’t readily access buyers for their products,” said Nyafamu Manzo, Founder of Farmatrix.
“Farmatrix democratises purchase orders, guaranteeing end-to-end market, secure storage facilities, and trusted logistics services for every farmer and agro-commodity aggregator in our network.”
Tomiwa Aladekomo, CEO of Big Cabal Media, the Nigerian-based Pan-African media group that tells the great African start-up story to the world, said Nigeria sets an example of elevating tech talent to accelerate productivity and attract investment across the continent.
“In Nigeria, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy is training three million tech talents over the next four years, and that’s the kind of thing we want to see across the continent,” said Aladekomo, a speaker at the Future of Finance Summit, one of more than 10 powerful conference programmes at GITEX Africa 2024.
“Africa needs to build AI products, and we need to be thinking about regulation, not just from a safety perspective, but about regulation that encourages productivity, allowing us to be producers (of AI) rather than just consumers – and that’s going to require a ton of tech talent.”
Other headliners include Aminu Maida, CEO of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Prasanna Burri, Group CISO of Dangote Group; Yewande Adewusi, COO of Altheia Capital, and Yau I. Garba, National Director of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
The AI Everything Expo by GITEX Africa 2024 will take place in Marrakech from May 29-31, and will involve more than 30 high-level Nigerian-based speakers, including the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Mr Tunji Alausa; the Governor of Zamfara State, Mr Dauda Lawal; and the Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Mr Akin Abayomi.
Adedapo Adesanya