AI is the buzzword these days, and everybody in the political sphere is caught up in it. However, apart from that exuberant intent, few, if any, know how we can get there.
This article delves into how Tanzania can put its nose in front of this massively challenging ambition to arm ourselves with this very rare skill, which potentially can help us spearhead our development initiatives.
There is plenty of soft and hard infrastructure to invest in for a nation that inspires the idea of becoming another Silicon Valley. The most important item is investment in quality yet affordable internet connectivity.
The Internet divide leaves the majority of the poor unable to access it, reducing their chances of employing the Internet to fight poverty.
For a banana Republic like Tanzania, owning internet satellites is crucial in controlling consumer internet service prices.
If we own internet satellites, we can fix prices at very affordable rates, bridging the internet access gap that keeps many out of the loop.
It will also shield our data from being vacuumed for free to power overseas AI tools, which will be sold back to us at extortionate prices. National coverage and data security will boost innovation and propel high-tech industry clusters.
If I apply the figures of achieving that using the Chinese company, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST), the entity behind the G60 Starlink low Earth orbit mega constellation, that announced in February it had raised 6.7 billion yuan ($943 million) for the constellation’s construction.
The first launch for China’s G60 Starlink mega constellation of over 12,000 satellites was set for early August. The cost of one low-orbit Satellite for internet services is less than USD 55 million, depending on many factors, including quality, size, and beam strength.
READ RELATED: AI Economic Profitability Tug-of-War: Where Does the Balance Lie?
So, it is affordable, and we should not shirk away from getting our act together. Tanzania will need about 100 low-orbit satellites to cover the whole country, which will cost USD 5.5 billion and not need to be implemented in one lump sum.
An incremental implementation strategy that will guide us to launch 20 low-orbit satellites per year should be able to cover the whole country and beyond within five years.
Do not tell me we have no money. We have money, but it is directed to wasteful, consumptive appetites that bring zero added value to the nation.
Imagine money allocated for SUVs for leaders alone. This will gobble up almost USD 1 billion, which, if forfeited, can power 20 low-orbit satellites, bringing the country closer to Internet independence and releasing millions of our youths to self-employment at a reasonable cost.
Most politicians urge self-employment among our youth but lack the imagination, sacrifice, and grit to fulfil their vacuous goals.
The local low-orbit Internet services may be placed under TTCL, and they may cost Tshs 12,000 per month for 200GB with an Internet speed of 150 MBS—a mouthwatering proposal never thought possible before!
Those with lesser or higher needs will have their rates and bundle sizes. Once we have sufficient Internet connectivity, we can look at school syllabuses.
Colonial education left us with deep deference for maths and science subjects, and that ought to change.
A thorough grasp of maths undeniably simplifies learning computer languages, cyber security, and related subjects, but on its own, it does not significantly contribute to economic growth.
Today’s science increasingly depends on AI, so the two fields are inseparable. Surprisingly, they must be taught together from kindergarten to the tertiary level.
Government bursaries must now be tied to applicants excelling in AI subjects, particularly LLM—Large Language Models, computer system architecture, data structures and algorithms, Internet of Things (IoT), C/C++, Java, language processing, etc. A paced course structure is needed to leapfrog us to a fully tech-savvy nation.
While low-orbit satellites and a proper AI syllabus are essential, they are not the full story. We must urgently invest in data servers and computing chips.
All these two may need to be outsourced, but having them locally is vital to lead breakthroughs in AI technologies.
Data servers, transmission lines and powerful computing chips consume lots and lots of electricity.
We have been bragging about the capacity potential at the Bwawa la Nyerere hydroelectric plant, which generates 2.5 MW. That is chicken stuff, my friend. Depending on its size, one data centre may consume all that electricity daily.
My point is that we should stop thinking small as we have been. Some small-minded politicians have been dreaming of selling that peanut power to neighbouring countries.
Well, they are unaware of the energy challenges besetting us in the future. We need to begin planning to generate over 30-50 GW.
Our energy demands will grow in a manner with which we will struggle to cope, and many AI international companies may seriously consider shifting their operating bases to Tanzania if we have sufficient power.
Such shifts may generate hundreds of high-tech youth, boosting the national economy and reducing petty crimes.
Faced with such gargantuan energy demand, we must stop thinking small and embrace big thinking.
For starters, there is less emphasis on hydroelectric power generation, which is not all that efficient long term, and a switch to nuclear power.
Nuclear power is cheap, sustainable, less of a pollutant, and may quickly reduce our power debt. At current prices, one small to medium nuclear-generating plant of 8-12 GW may cost around 14 billion.
The advantages of nuclear power generation are that it is free of PPAs—Power Purchase Agreements. PPAs are riddled with official grafts, pummelling consumers with untold pain in buying power.
Moreover, a country that can provide such an investment is Russia through Rosnet, a public company.
Russians slapped with Western economic sanctions are eager to look elsewhere for trade partners. We can exchange our natural resources with them in barter trade to construct two nuclear-generating plants, each with an 8 GW capacity. I know the Russians are eyeing Tanzanite at Mererani in Arusha.
We can barter KITALU C with two nuclear-generating power plants and have 16 GW for ourselves in as little as six to eight years from today. Past investment strategies in the extractive industry have been dumber, so we have nothing to show off.
Think of South African ownership of Mererani Tanzanite. Nothing tangible has contributed to the nation in the last two decades. Consider Mwadui diamond mining, which has contributed almost nothing to our welfare.
The same can be said of gold mining, which will be remembered more for environmental damage than anything else.
Hence, it departs from the current incentives for extracting precious metals, gemstones, and other valuables, which do not yield the intended results.
My proposals may be raw, requiring plenty of sieving, final touches, and redactions, but they point to a larger policy shift issue.
I am aware of resistance to departing from the current status quo on surreptitious grounds, which would hurt many individuals but not nationally.
Some will cite the loss of local jobs and taxes if low-orbit satellites are in the government’s hands, but the truth is far from that.
More informal jobs and associated taxes will be generated, putting millions in the job market and making current lost jobs look inconsequential.
Moreover, my suggestion to abolish the current regime in extractive metals and gemstones will be fought because of a mindset that benefits very few at the expense of the majority.
China is where it is today because past leaders were able to visualize a much bigger picture: that unless the majority are pulled out of poverty, they may not have a country in the long run.
Poverty in China leads to discontent, protests, and a cry for individual provinces to declare independence as a last effort to shield themselves from a centralised system of governance.
Over the past 40 years, the number of people in China with incomes below USD 1.90 per day – the International Poverty Line defined by the World Bank to track global extreme poverty– has fallen by nearly 800 million.
With this, China has contributed close to three-quarters of the global reduction in extreme poverty.
At China’s current national poverty line, the poor fell by 770 million over the same period. Credit Suisse estimates that 6.2 million individuals are dollar millionaires in China, which ranks second after the United States worldwide.
This can only happen when leaders think beyond their noses and define development as the process by which the most vulnerable are lifted out of poverty and can enjoy all the benefits of belonging to a country.
In my original article power generated at Bwawa la Nyerere was reported to be 2.5 MW but it is about 2.5 GW. The typographical error is hereby regretted