29/01/2025
Why We Need to Man Up
The AI race is at its peak, with tech engineers across many countries competing to make a difference and put their nations on the global map. They are developing state-of-the-art models and solutions to address local problems while also contributing to advanced global innovations.
Meanwhile, many African countries, including Cameroon, remain far from the limelight, with little being heard about advancements in these sectors. We are lagging, relying on the progress of other nations, hoping to benefit from their innovations—yet, should we ever reach a competitive stage, these same nations could easily outmaneuver us.
Our country seems more focused on entertainment, with an emphasis on comedy and showbiz, while others are preoccupied with politics, paying little attention to the true gold of this era—technology. Instead of supporting projects that could establish Cameroon as a center of technological excellence, attention is directed toward constitutional debates and suppressing those who challenge the system.
There is no well-documented local language dataset that could help in training AI models unique to our nation. There are no approved and standardized datasets for agriculture or healthcare—sectors that desperately need machine learning solutions to address endemic challenges. Schools lack the necessary infrastructure, with some state engineering institutions unable to boast of labs equipped with laptops that have high-performance NVIDIA chips. Yet, we watch as funds are misallocated to politically motivated projects instead of long-term, strategic technological solutions.
Other countries are actively working to protect their citizens in the digital age, but here in Cameroon, there are no regulations preventing the unauthorized collection of audio, text, and other forms of data from citizens—data that is often stored on servers outside the country, beyond our control.
Where are the investors? Where is the government?
