Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 28 | Page 22

PROJECT UPDATE LATEST REGIONAL PROJECT UPDATE GHANA Google has opened an Artificial Intelligence research laboratory in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa. Similar research centres have already opened around the world, including Tokyo, Zurich, New York and Paris, and the tech giant said the lab in Accra would ‘address economic, political and environmental issues. Other tech companies, including Facebook, have launched initiatives in Africa and demographics are a key factor behind the drive. Africa’s population is estimated to be 1.2 billion, 60% of them under the age of 24. ZIMBABWE Distributed Power Africa (DPA) has launched the Econet Zimbabwe Willowvale Solar Plant. The 466kw grid tied system will operate under a 25-year Independent Power Producer (IPP) licence, one of the few issued by the energy and power regulator in Zimbabwe for self-consumption and is the company’s largest carport and rooftop mount thus far. With an estimated 780MWH in annual energy production, the 1,435 installed panels are expected to reduce the site’s footprint by 285,000kg every year. 22 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com