Why Africa needs not fear Artificial Intelligence and here’s how it can use Fintech to own the fourth industrial revolution.

Nairobi City skyline.

A drive along Nairobi’s Ngong road and one would be met with endless informal timber yards filled with skilled carpenters who keep churning out beautiful furniture of all manner to the delight of commuters who normally admire them from afar whenever they get caught up in Nairobi’s mad traffic jams.

In less than 15 years, however, that sight may cease to exist as we know it and with it thousands of job opportunities, thanks to technology and, more specifically, artificial intelligence powered by fintech.

Aarti Shah, former head of government relations at Thomson Reuters and a fintech expert, says carpentry and all manner of informal jobs in Kenya as we know it today will soon be phased out and done by robots.

Quoting an Overseas Development Institute report which states that by 2034 it will be cheaper for robots in the US to manufacture furniture than carpenters along Ngong Road, Shah, who is also a consultant at The Cobalt Partners, a business and technology advisory firm, said African policymakers have their work cut out and need to adapt accordingly.

Full story at Pulse NG.