Govt urged to include private sector in AI policymaking

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The American Embassy, together with Simplifi Networks, in conjunction with ICT Association of Uganda, organised a half-day event on April 16 to help Ugandans leverage their enterprises using AI. 

The theme of the day was State of AI for Entrepreneurs and Ugandan Businesses.

Renowned AI and technology expert Vivek Mohindra and Ken Stober of Simplifi Networks had an extensive dialogue on how AI can help entrepreneurs, technology professionals, and policymakers transform their enterprises and the country at large.

Grace Achire Labong, the Director and Head of Stakeholders Engagement at the ICT Association of Uganda.

This took place at the National ICT Innovation Hub in Nakawa on April 16. Mohindra brought decades of experience in a whole range of different technologies, and deep experience in business transformation and strategic innovation.

The United States Ambassador to Uganda, William W. Popp, said the partnership between Uganda and the U.S is focused on creating real economic opportunities in trade, investment, and innovation.

Popp noted that AI fits in clearly in the government’s 10-fold economic growth goal, and has identified technology as a key enabler of this growth. It is definitely forward-thinking, and that is the kind of vision that can attract the most investment in the United States.

“Today, we are sharing about building the best connections between Uganda and entrepreneurs with American companies that can provide technology, training, investment and scale,” he said.

Popp noted that the United States, through institutions such as the International Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank, is already mobilising financial tools to support global technology partnerships in these areas.

Grace Achire Labong, the Director and Head of Stakeholders Engagement at the ICT Association of Uganda, reinforced the centrality of technology to Uganda's development ambitions. She described ICT not as a standalone sector, but as a foundational enabler cutting across the country's priority growth areas - agriculture, tourism, minerals, and services.

"ICT is not just a sector, it is an enabler that cuts across all others," she said. "If we are to achieve our goal of tenfold economic growth, technology must be at the centre of that transformation," she added.

Achire also revealed that Uganda is already taking concrete steps toward structured AI adoption, with national frameworks and policy guidelines under development to guide the responsible and impactful deployment of emerging technologies.

AI and education

Mohindra urged the national AI task force to include the private sector in policymaking.

“The private sector is where the rubber hits the road, because ultimately, the private sector is the one that turns a lot of these technologies and their potential into reality at the company level,” Mohindra said.  

US’s Al I and IT Expert Vivek Mohindra and Uganda’s Ken Stober of Simplifi Networks, Bugolobi during an AI dialogue at Nakawa

“And the regulators have a huge responsibility in setting the right policies to clarify the environment for the unleashing of the full potential of AI to occur.”

Although some people are sceptical about AI, Mohindra intimated that technology in the hands of the right players can do a lot of good. People should therefore be careful about the data they feed it.

“This is because AI is all about the data fundamentally. You basically get what you give it.”

Stober urged Ugandan entrepreneurs to pay attention to AI “because it has potential for low start-up costs, capex (money a company spends on long-term assets), and can use services already in place. But also, the need is increasing fast.”