The biggest issue facing AI is how we govern it for the greater good. In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), AI represents a significant opportunity to help solve our core problems which have been slowing and impeding economic development and growth. Also, we have only ten years to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

As such, in the next five to ten years, AI will not only disrupt our way of living and work but also how we educate our youth and workforce and deliver services to clients.

Shifting Industries 

According to the 2017 McKinsey study on workforce transitions, the US job market comprised 55% of agricultural workers in 1850. Subsequently, many industries lost jobs to automation. Despite this, the same study showed that technology creates more jobs than it destroys over time, mainly outside the industry itself. For example, personal computers created 19,263 jobs and destroyed 3,508 jobs with a net effect of 15,755 jobs gained.

The trend in the US can also be seen in SSA over the past twenty years. Agriculture is shrinking in its contribution to economies in the region. Growth is increasingly being driven by small businesses and services that can gain value from technological advancement.

Adapting Education

SSA is going to need good policies which start with education that prepares learners for a different work environment. Although it’s not possible to forecast with certainty what the workplace will look like in future, we will most certainly transform into a different world. A wider array of educational and training programs that can successfully train mostly poorly educated workers in the skills they need to perform the jobs of the future must be established.

So, what are we doing to train future and current generations to thrive in our changing world?

Technology in the Classroom 

Significant shifts are happening in education. Teachers are increasingly using experimental teaching approaches and integrating technology into their ways of working. Learners and teachers are using laptops, tablets and other devices to enable interactive and virtual learning. Currently mainly used in private schools, this initiative is also being implemented in government schools and many now provide students with a laptop or tablet per class. This will become the norm within the next few years. Schools will continue using whiteboards, paper and notebooks to capture and visualise thought processes, but alongside digital tools. These tools can aid teachers and allow learners to gain more from their individual learning styles and pace, whilst providing them with virtual experiences. 

Higher Education Ready for AI

Old Mutual has been working closely with the University of Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch Business School on governance and digital tertiary education. Two years of research, in collaboration with the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, revealed that the popularity of digital learning is increasing, but usage remains concentrated in historically advantaged universities. Digital tools offer teaching and learning in a cost-effective way, helping to close the gap between private and government education.

Opportunities for lifelong learning 

We have a responsibility to ensure that our employees adapt to future jobs. Our employees receive on-the-job training and we work with the Department of Education and other training providers to develop relevant content together. There are many programs offering free coding courses to enable mature workers. As a responsible business, we have invested over R2bn, alongside our clients, in education in South Africa so far.

OMIG manages the Schools and Education Investment Impact Fund South Africa (Schools Fund), the first impact fund of its kind in South Africa. The Schools Fund was launched in 2012 and invests in independent schools that provide quality education, while capping the school fees to make them more affordable. In 2019, the Fund enabled 18 600 learners in 33 schools across the country. Working side-by-side with its partners, the Schools Fund hopes to provide facilities for 40 000 learners by 2027.

AI at OMIG

AI disciplines will be incorporated in all that we do to enhance investment performance and profitability. The following beliefs underpin our AI vision:

Efficiency – AI will drive efficiency across our business.

Alpha – AI will help us achieve better performance outcomes for our clients.

Tool – AI will help us as humans do our jobs better.

Cognitive Enhancement – AI will enhance our thinking.

For us, it is not human versus machine, but rather human plus machine beats machine or human only. We are excited about this initiative and its ability to help empower us to prosper as a relevant and thriving asset manager for our clients. BM