2024 AIfE Newsletter

2024 AIfE Newsletter

April – October 2024

Letter from the Executive Director

Tamiko Sher

Launching

2024 GenAI for Non-Tech

Entrepreneurs and Youth

2024 is a year to remember Since AIfE started in 2021, we had a dream of catalytic interventions, which are just beginning to come true

Every day I ask myself: what have we done that will make a difference in this world for entrepreneurs?

To have our original 2021 Drone Industry and 2022 UTM research papers result in a drone corridor plan for the Western Cape Province is part of our promise.

This year we challenged ourselves to new research in ’deep tech’- researching on the latest hot topic of Generative AI (GenAI).

Thanks to our teammate Vinnie Mzolisa, AIfE is now developing an in-house software to transcribe and draw insights – of African accents. We need more participants for beta testing – please read up about this exciting development and join us!

We continually challenge ourselves, embrace learning, look for new partnerships, and seek how AIfE can contribute to the entrepreneurship ecosystem through insights, partnerships, discussions and more.

If what we do is of interest – please engage!

We look forward to building new partnerships and collaborations for the future

May you all have a wonderful 2024 and blessings into 2025.

Sincerely,

Tamiko Sher AIfE Executive Director tamiko@aife.africa

Thanks to AIfE’s long-standing collaboration with the SA Innovation Summit, the NGO had the privilege of presenting its annual in-house research, An Exploration of Opportunities in Generative AI for Non-Tech Entrepreneurs and Youth.

Some key takeaways from this Panel is to embrace a beginner mindset and be willing to learn, AI is your friend and mentor Start small and iterate

About the panellists

SAIA’24: Catalysing Capital - Accelerating Africa's Innovation Ecosystem

Many thanks to Dr Paul Amayo, Gontse Konopi, Kai Goodall, and Carlton Ndlovu for being part of the AIfE panel One point was how entrepreneurs need to experiment with open-source tools and develop their own IP for commercial purposes. All the panellists shared examples of how they are working through problems utilising GenAI.

2024 AIfE – exploring opportunities in generative AI

Each year AIfE sponsors an in-house research project on a specific topic and this year was GenAI for non-tech entrepreneurs and youth.

What AIfE seeks to do is to democratise tech and make it accessible. This is especially important for non-tech entrepreneurs and youth, who might otherwise not be able to access new tech as easily.

This research features tips from tech entrepreneurs how to avoid mistakes, ways to approach GenAI, and AIfE’s selection of the best free online courses, tools and other resources.

To find out more about AIfE’s An exploration of opportunities in GenAI for non-tech entrepreneurs and youth, please contact vinnie@aife.africa.

As Kai Goodall, a young entrepreneur and tech enthusiast says, “I see GenAI as my friend, my mentor, someone I go to for advice or assistance.”

Seeing GenAI as a friend and mentor can alleviate fears of those unused to technology.

“As a young tech entrepreneur and researcher, I am excited to be at the forefront of exciting new tech research, meeting with experts from around the world."

Vinnie Mzolisa

Spotlight on Vinnie Mzolisa, AIfE Researcher and Digital Facilitator

Vinnie Mzolisa is the Researcher and Digital Facilitator at African Institute for Entrepreneurship AIfE

He conducts research and works as AIfE’s Digital Facilitator Vinnie is a passionate entrepreneur and self-starter who loves learning new tech and constantly teaches himself

He has developed AI and ML tools the NGO uses in its research. where he brings a relentless drive for learning and growth to every initiative He embodies the kind of resourcefulness Paul Graham described, continuously seeking to improve, engage, and make an impact

Vinnie’s dedication to innovation, from developing AI tools to guiding digital research projects, reflects his willingness to help and empower others, making him a key force in advancing the institute’s mission.

As young people, you may start with limited skills and experience, but you bring invaluable assets: a positive mindset, relentless resourcefulness, and a willingness to learn and explore

To the next generation of innovators and change-makers, let curiosity be your compass and resilience your foundation Together, we can shape a future driven by creativity, courage, and an unyielding drive to grow

AIfE collaboration with Vinnie Mzolisa: The African Impact & Productivity Tool

As researchers conducting interviews, we faced challenges with existing transcription software that often struggles with African accents, especially South African ones. This required us to spend time manually correcting transcripts To solve this, we developed a tool specifically designed to recognize and accurately transcribe South African accents in various languages, enhancing both accuracy and efficiency

Why leverage this tool for transcription?

• Accuracy with African Accents

• Time-Saving

• Insight Extraction

Benefits of the Tool?

• Cost-Effective

• Customisable Features

• Localised AI

• Scalable Solution

Development and Governance

• The tool has been trained on over 2000 hours of interview data from key partners like AIFE, which specializes in qualitative research. This training, along with contributions from volunteers, ensures a high level of accuracy

• Future development will include feedback loops with users to continuously improve and expand language recognition capabilities

Current stage of development: Beta Testing

• Initial deployment

• Feedback and Iteration

• Optimisation

If you are interested in utilizing or learning more about the tool, contact Vinnie Mzolisa using the information below vinnie@aife.africa

Meet the AIfE Board of Directors and Advisory Panel

Board of Directors Advisory Panel

Dr Jabulile MsimangoGalawe Co-founder and Board Chair

Tamiko Sher Co-founder and Executive Director

Dr Tsiliso Tamasane Co-founder and Board Member

Paulo Coelho Board Member, AIfE

Advisory Panel Guy Harris

Social Entrepreneur | Founder Pathways Outa Poverty | Novelquip [IDC subsidiary] Board Chair | UCT Intellectual Property Advisory Committee and Private Equity Advisory Group|Red Cross Childrens’ Hospital Faculty Board member|Advisory Panel member, AIfE

Guy mentors a few youth-led or focused start-ups/accelerators targeted at limited-resource communities PoP(Pathways out of Poverty or to Prosperity) for motivated, mostly NEET, youth not captured by the ganglords or druglords He also promoted using area-based S12j accelerators/scalerators focusing on fast-tracking high job growth Scaling Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Real job creation will come through entry-level upskilled jobs in SMEs, mainly selling to niche export-focused high-growth and high disposable income markets, to address SA’s high unemployment & poverty He believes in not giving a fish or teaching to fish but rather investing in their fishing business and then helping them disrupt the fishing industry He is passionate about ECD and Vocational Education

Guy chairs the Board of Novelquip, an IDC subsidiary, and served on the UCT Intellectual Property Advisory Committee and Private Equity Advisory Group He was the University nominated board member of Cape BioPharms He served on the Red Cross Childrens Hospital Facility Board and on the Council of False Bay TVET College and coordinates a national initiative around TVET Entrepreneurship for DHET and USAF He chaired the False Bay TVET Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubation and their Finance Committee and served on their Academic Board

AIfE is proud to have an advisory panel member of Guy’s standing and reputation in the entrepreneurship community and appreciates his contributions to the organisation