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Middle East, Africa to invest $3bn in Artificial Intelligence —Reports IDC

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In a bid to boost its capacity in artificial intelligence (AI), the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is projected to spend $3 billion in 2023, according to the latest Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The projected figure will account for two percent of the global spending of $151.4 billion on AI for 2023.

Industry analysts noted that, though, only a fragment of the larger spending for the year, the MEA region is expected to record the fastest growth rate in the coming years.

The IDC also forecasts that AI spending in MEA will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 29.7 percent from 2022 to 2026, reaching $6.4 billion in 2026.

Speaking on the prospect of the development, Manish Ranjan, Senior Program Manager for software, cloud, and IT services at IDC MEA, said that the aftermath of the pandemic has pushed the world to see the need for an investment in AI.

He said, “The rapid adoption of cloud and digital transformation in MEA will result in AI being incorporated into many different products and solutions.

“Organizations across the region are investing in AI technologies and related software and services to drive greater efficiency through automation and contribute to a more agile operating environment.

“The effects of the pandemic have fueled further spending in relation to AI/ML adoption, particularly within the banking and finance, manufacturing, trade, healthcare, and government verticals.”

READ ALSO:Google opens Africa’s first Artificial Intelligence lab

While industry sectors such as banking, retail, and federal/central government are projected to be the biggest spenders on AI in the MEA region in 2023, the report noted that that discrete manufacturing sector is expected to be next in line, with the four industries accounting for approximately 44 percent of the region’s total AI spending in 2023.

Ranjan added, “AI growth in the region looks very promising as businesses are increasingly investing in AI- and analytics-based solutions to strengthen and expand their customer experiences, build digital capabilities, and drive innovation.

“Augmented customer service agents, fraud analysis and investigation, augmented threat intelligence and prevention systems, and sales process recommendation and augmentation are the key business use cases where organizations are investing more in the market.”

Despite the potential for growth in AI adoption, the IDC report also highlighted several challenges in the MEA region, including the lack of skilled resources such as data scientists, data engineers, and AI modelers.

However, the report noted that global tech firms such as Microsoft and Google have made significant strides in incorporating AI into their systems, with AI enabling more efficient processes but also potentially leading to the extinction of certain roles.

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