Senegal: Professor Mary Teuw Niane calls for massive AI investment

Professor Mary Teuw Niane is calling for a massive investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and a profound restructuring of education systems in Senegal and across Africa. She argues that mastering AI is essential to ensure that African youth are not marginalized by global scientific and technological transformations.

Niane emphasizes that academic excellence from individual researchers is insufficient to drive social and economic change. Instead, the entire educational spectrum—from preschool to higher education—must be redesigned. Universities, in particular, are urged to use their academic autonomy to anticipate future needs rather than remaining fixed in outdated curricula and teaching methods.

Drawing on historical precedents, such as the introduction of computer science at Gaston Berger University in the 1990s, Niane suggests that academic leadership and international networks can successfully foster new disciplines even when local expertise is initially scarce.