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.

The study finds that lower-paying jobs, which make up 68% of the workforce, are particularly at risk. It found that up to 40% of human tasks in Africa’s outsourcing sector could be automated.

But AI experts at the summit said that with the right investments and training, women and youth could access better-paid, higher-skilled work than what the currently do.

Jeremy Jurgen, managing director of the World Economic Forum, which is co-hosting the conference, said there was a shortage of AI workers and a need to invest in developing talent to address that.

African leaders present called for more collaboration.

“African countries need to have clarity on what they want to do with AI and what they’re bringing to the table, then we can start talking about collaborating on AI without compromising our sovereignty,” Nigerian Communication Minister Bosun Tijani said during the conference.

Delegates attend the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Delegates arrive to attend the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Delegates attend the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Togo President Faure Gnassingbé speaks during the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame listens during the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Delegates stand during the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Delegates attend the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

An image displaying the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Delegates attend the first-ever Global AI Summit for Africa where more than 1,000 policymakers, business leaders, and interest groups have gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuhi Irakiza)

Russia freed a Russian American convicted of treason on Thursday in exchange for a Russian-German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S., a prisoner swap that comes as the two countries work to repair ties.

Ksenia Karelina, also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on a plane back home to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. American authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”

Arthur Petrov was released as part of a swap in Abu Dhabi, United Araba Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's main security and counterespionage agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later.

Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the United States carried out in the last three years — and the second since President Donald Trump took office and reversed Washington's policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Russian and U.S. diplomats are sitting down Thursday for another round of talks in Istanbul on improving diplomatic ties.

In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on drug charges, in a swap that the White House described as part of a diplomatic thaw that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling charges.

Karelina, a former ballet dancer, reportedly obtained U.S. citizenship after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.

The FSB accused her of “proactively" collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to Kyiv's forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.

“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s fiancé, Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”

He thanked Trump and his envoys, as well as prominent public figures who had championed her case.

The exchange was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, also confirmed she was on her way back to the U.S. The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency released photos of Karelina boarding a plane and one of her standing next to Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S.

The FSB, which said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video that showed her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia. The footage then featured of what appeared to be the scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac.

The same video showed Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia. “I have no particular complaints, just a bit tired,” he said.

Petrov was accused by the U.S. Justice Department of involvement in a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronic components for the country's weapons industries. He was facing a 20-year prison term in the U.S.

Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home to many Russians and Ukrainian who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., left, standing next to U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina getting on a private jet after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.(AP Photo/File)