Every day, factories across the world fire up fleets of robots that cost less than a single human shift. These machines stamp out the devices we depend on—smartphones, laptops, even basic appliances—shipped into Africa by the container load. With each arrival, a bit more of our creativity and industry is outsourced to metal and code. But Africa is different. And so is our future.
Between now and 2035, Africa will add more young people to the workforce than the rest of the world combined. In Botswana and beyond, our economies are young, ambitious, and hungry for opportunity. Yet, 40% of the tasks in Africa’s outsourcing sector could be automated by 2030, with women likely to face the brunt of this transformation.
So the question is not whether we embrace AI—it’s how. Do we automate blindly and import every tool and trend? Or do we use this moment to build an Africa-first AI future—where automation leads to abundance, not unemployment?
That’s the bold vision behind the AI Digital Shift Conference, happening on 14 May 2025 at Aquarian Tide Hotel in Gaborone. In collaboration with Stratida and Mmegi, this conference will bring together thinkers, builders, policy leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs to ask—and answer—the right questions:
• How can we equip our youth with future-ready AI skills? • How do we protect jobs while promoting innovation? • What policies ensure our data and technologies serve our people first? • We need more than tech talks. We need African solutions to African challenges—food security, clean energy, health access, smart agriculture—not just humanoid waiters and AI gimmicks.
Botswana has the talent and imagination to lead this shift. Whether it’s using AI to personalize learning in our classrooms or helping farmers predict rainfall, the potential is already here. What we need is focus, strategy, and collaboration.
That’s why this conference is not just a day on the calendar—it’s a call to action.
If you're a policymaker, teacher, student, tech builder, or business leader—this conversation is yours.
Join us as we shape policy, skills, and systems for an AI-powered Africa. Tickets & Partnerships: www.aidigitalshift.co.bw
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