Africa

Data scarcity limits NLP development for low-resource African languages. We evaluate two data augmentation methods -- LLM-based generation (Gemini 2.5 Flash) and back-translation (NLLB-200) -- for Hausa and Fongbe, two West African languages that differ substantially in LLM generation quality. We assess augmentation on named entity recognition (NER) and part-of-speech (POS) tagging using MasakhaNER 2.0 and MasakhaPOS benchmarks. Our results reveal that augmentation effectiveness depends on task

Digital payment systems have become a cornerstone of consumer finance in Africa. Prominent payment categories include money transfer applications, mobile money, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). While there are studies exploring how and why people use individual digital payment systems (both in Africa and beyond), we lack a good understanding of why people choose between different categories of payment systems, and how they view the tradeoffs between dif

This study examines the perception of legal professionals on the governance of AI in developing countries, using Nigeria as a case study. The study focused on ethical risks, regulatory gaps, and institutional readiness. The study adopted a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through 27 semi-structured interviews with legal practitioners in Nigeria. A focus group discussion was also held with seven additional legal practitioners across sectors such as finance, insurance, and corpor

Many works in the literature show that LLM outputs exhibit discriminatory behaviour, triggering stereotype-based inferences based on the dialect in which the inputs are written. This bias has been shown to be particularly pronounced when the same inputs are provided to LLMs in Standard American English (SAE) and African-American English (AAE). In this paper, we replicate existing analyses of dialect-sensitive stereotype generation in LLM outputs and investigate the effects of mitigation strategi

Here we conducted a retrospective evaluation of an electronic medical record-embedded large language model clinical decision support system deployed across 16 primary care clinics in Kenya, between July and September 2024. A panel of trained physicians reviewed 1,469 records. Hallucinations were uncommon, occurring in 50 encounters (3.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5-4.5), and most often involved misexpanded acronyms or drug names. Clinical management guidance aligned with local guidelines i

Financial management is the most critical aspect regarding the determination of the success or failure of the public sector within the Republic of South Africa. However, currently, there are several challenges that militate against effective as well as efficient financial management within the public sector. Traditional financial management techniques remain a major obstacle to effective and efficient service delivery in South Africa’s public sector. Legacy systems and fragmented fiscal processe

Background: Automated brain tumor segmentation on multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is crucial in assessing patient outcomes and remains a challenge across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Since 2012, the Brain Tumor Segmentation (BraTS) Challenge has evaluated state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) methods to detect, characterize, and classify tumors. However, it is unclear if these methods can generalize, and hence be widely implemented, in SSA populations. To address this, t

problems in student retention and critical thinking in 206 vocational education students in the Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The results showed that AI posed significant threats to the male students showing more concern than their female peers. While AI aids vocational education, it has the potential to reduce cognitive engagement because the students may accept passively the information provided by AI without critical scrutiny (Ododo et al., 2024). The study emphasizes the need for AI-powered lear

Abstract Hundreds of millions of people now interact with language models, with uses ranging from help with writing 1,2 to informing hiring decisions 3 . However, these language models are known to perpetuate systematic racial prejudices, making their judgements biased in problematic ways about groups such as African Americans 4–7 . Although previous research has focused on overt racism in language models, social scientists have argued that racism with a more subtle character has developed over

In the context of global integration and increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, evaluating the AI literacy of pre-service teachers is crucial. As future architects of educational systems, pre-service teachers must not only possess pedagogical expertise but also a strong foundation in AI literacy. This quantitative study examines AI literacy among 529 pre-service teachers in a Nigerian university, utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) for comprehensive analysis.

This study aims to investigate the influence of AI-enhanced leadership on employee well-being in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).It examines the mediating role of psychological safety and perceived fairness of AI, and explores the moderating effect of authoritarian leadership styles.A quantitative study was conducted using data collected from a survey of 104 professionals in Tunisia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.This research applied the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS

BACKGROUND: Fibrin(ogen) amyloid microclots and platelet hyperactivation previously reported as a novel finding in South African patients with the coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) and Long COVID/Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), might form a suitable set of foci for the clinical treatment of the symptoms of Long COVID/PASC. A Long COVID/PASC Registry was subsequently established as an online platform where patients can report Long COVID/PASC symptoms and previous comorbidities. METHODS:

Climate change is adversely affecting the burden of infectious disease throughout the world, which is a health security threat. Climate-sensitive infectious disease includes vector-borne diseases such as malaria, whose transmission potential is expected to increase because of enhanced climatic suitability for the mosquito vector in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Climatic suitability for the mosquitoes that can carry dengue, Zika, and chikungunya is also likely to increase, facilita

Pereira, L. M., T. Hichert, M. Hamann, R. Preiser, and R. Biggs. 2018. Using futures methods to create transformative spaces: visions of a good Anthropocene in southern Africa. Ecology and Society 23(1):19. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09907-230119

For thousands of years, societies have fallen under the reign of a single leader, ruling as chief, king, or emperor. In this fascinating global history of medieval and early modern dynastic power, Jeroen Duindam charts the rise and fall of dynasties, the rituals of rulership, and the contested presence of women on the throne. From European, African, Mughal, Ming-Qing and Safavid dynasties to the Ottoman Empire, Tokugawa Japan and Chosŏn Korea, he reveals the tension between the ideals of kingshi

Safe drinking water is critical to human health and development. In rural sub-Saharan Africa, most improved water sources are boreholes with handpumps; studies suggest that up to one third of these handpumps are nonfunctional at any given time. This work presents findings from a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 1509 water sources in 570 communities in the rural Greater Afram Plains (GAP) region of Ghana; one of the largest studies of its kind. 79.4% of enumerated water sources wer

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation remains the only curative treatment currently in use for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). The first successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was performed in 1984. To date, approximately 1,200 transplants have been reported. Given the high prevalence of this disorder in Africa, and its emergence in the developed world through immigration, this number is relatively small. There are many reasons for this; primary among them are the availabi

<p>In the context of the hype, promise and perils of Big Data and the currently dominant paradigm of data-driven decision-making, it is important to critically engage with the potential of Big Data for higher education. We do not question the potential of Big Data, but we do raise a number of issues, and present a number of theses to be seriously considered in realising this potential.</p><p>The University of South Africa (Unisa) is one of the mega ODL institutions in the world