Study says more women than men in Africa will likely lose outsourcing tasks to AI

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — More women than men working in Africa’s outsourcing sector will likely see their tasks in the workplace replaced by automation and artificial intelligence by 2030, a report said Thursday.

The report, released at a conference on AI in the Rwandan capital, also said that the now-surging growth of the outsourcing industry on the African continent may slow, and it urged workers to boost their skills so that they can trade up to better jobs.

More than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups were gathered in Kigali for the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who addressed the conference on its opening day, called for more investments, innovation and creativity.

African countries should “go back to the drawing board and build a strong foundation for connectivity,” Kagame said. “Let’s continue working together, and driving AI to reduce inequality, and allow more and more of our citizens to benefit from the good AI can deliver to all of us,” he said.

The new report by Caribou and Genesis Analytics in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation says that tasks performed by women are on average 10% more vulnerable to automation than those by men in the same sector. This disparity will exacerbate gender-based inequalities in the sector’s workforce if not proactively addressed, it said.

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