In a significant address at the 11th Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition, the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, shared key perspectives on Africa’s journey towards leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI). Avoiding any detractions, Professor Danbatta highlighted the pivotal role of power supply, collaboration, and other critical factors in this pursuit.

Addressing one of the foremost challenges, Professor Danbatta stressed the imperative of securing a reliable power supply in Africa. A dependable infrastructure is a prerequisite for harnessing the potential benefits of AI, which would otherwise remain out of reach and exacerbate the digital divide across the continent.

Unlocking AI’s transformative potential across diverse sectors

AI’s transformative impact spans across diverse sectors, encompassing healthcare, agriculture, finance, transportation, education, and governance. Applications like voice assistants, facial recognition, biometrics, and machine learning have seamlessly integrated into daily life. Africa stands to gain immensely by integrating AI solutions to tackle pressing challenges such as limited healthcare access, food security, financial inclusion, and infrastructure development.

To fully realize the potential of AI, Professor Danbatta emphasized investing in education and training programs. These initiatives aim to equip Africa’s youth with the necessary skills to actively participate in the AI-driven economy. The goal is to foster a generation of AI experts that can elevate Africa’s global AI standing while simultaneously creating job opportunities for the continent’s youth.

Ethical considerations lie at the heart of AI adoption in Africa. Professor Danbatta underscored the significance of transparent, accountable, and fair AI development and deployment. Additionally, preserving privacy, ensuring data security, and upholding human rights emerged as non-negotiable principles. AI’s role should be one of positive transformation, promoting inclusivity while leaving no one behind.

Unlocking AI’s full potential in Africa necessitates collaboration among an array of stakeholders. Governments, regulatory bodies, academia, the private sector, and civil society must unite to facilitate knowledge sharing, pool resources, and leverage expertise. This collective effort will create a conducive environment for AI adoption and innovation.

NCC’s dedicated commitment to AI development

Under the leadership of Professor Danbatta, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to supporting AI technology development and deployment, both within Nigeria and across the African continent. Active steps are being taken to establish an enabling regulatory framework that encourages innovation while safeguarding consumer and citizen interests.

Furthermore, the NCC is actively collaborating with various stakeholders to establish AI research and development centers, incubation hubs, and startup ecosystems. These initiatives aim to nurture homegrown AI talent, fostering further innovation and widespread adoption.

Seizing the potential of AI

In concluding his address, Professor Danbatta emphasized the significance of the conference theme, “Artificial Intelligence and Africa.” This theme underscores the immense possibilities that AI holds for transforming African societies, driving economic growth, and enhancing the well-being of its people.

Africa’s future is intertwined with the promise of AI. Realizing this potential hinges on commitment, collaboration, and strategic investment. Africa has the capacity not only to catch up with global AI advancements but to lead in AI-driven innovation tailored to the continent’s unique challenges and opportunities.

The last couple of days have witnessed several developments and comments regarding three of the most popular cryptocurrencies: Shiba Inu (SHIB), Ripple (XRP), and Bitcoin (BTC).

In the following lines, we will touch upon each asset.

Starting With SHIB

The self-proclaimed Dogecoin killer, specifically its layer-2 scaling solution Shibarium, has been in the spotlight once again. The network saw a 530% increase in newly verified contracts on September 19, while the overall number of wallets exceeded 1.25 million.

Shibarium also hit a major milestone yesterday (September 21) when the total number of transactions surpassed the 3 million mark. Those who wish to learn more about the launch and specifics of the L2 blockchain solution could take a look at our dedicated video.

In addition, Shiba Inu experienced a 317% jump in its burning rate, destroying over 130 million tokens on September 21. The program aims to reduce the asset’s circulating supply, possibly making SHIB more scarce and valuable in time.

However, the coin’s price has failed to record any gains lately, currently down almost 2% for the past two weeks (per CoinGecko’s data).

Moving on to XRP

The native token of Ripple has been the subject of numerous price predictions in the last several days. While some have envisioned rather wild scenarios, others have laid out more realistic ones.

EGRAG CRYPTO presented a chart depicting XRP’s current valuation and possible deviation in the future. According to them, the token could soar to as high as $1.40 should it close above the Fib 0.5 level at 0.57C “with undeniable confirmation.”

The technical analyst and educator Duo Nine also chipped in, suggesting the bulls will stay in charge should XRP continue trading at over $0.45. He added that the token is poised for a huge increase to $3.30 should it move to $1.30.

In the meantime, we asked what the AI-powered language model ChatGPT thinks of XRP’s price performance during the next bull run. Those who want to find out more can click on the video below:

Finishing With BTC

Last but not least, we will take a look at the most recent price prediction regarding the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization – Bitcoin (BTC). It came from Duo Nine, who commented below an X post that displayed a four-year overlap of the asset starting from the bottom in 2022.

Based on the presented data, the analyst believes BTC could skyrocket to the “realistic” level of $200,000 by 2025.

The post Realistic XRP Price Prediction, SHIB’s Huge Milestone, BTC Price Targets: Bits Recap Sep 22 appeared first on CryptoPotato.