NEWS
COMESA( Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) held a four-day stakeholder consultation in Lilongwe to shape the region’ s approach to Artificial Intelligence( AI) and Digital Inclusion( DI).
Speaking under the patronage of Malawi’ s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Dr Shadric Namalomba, COMESA Director of Infrastructure and Logistics Dr Bernard Dzawanda said the meeting brought together input from the public sector, private sector, academia, development partners and civil society to develop regional AI and Digital Inclusion strategies, an action plan and relevant model policies and regulatory frameworks.
The consultations were held under the IDEA Programme, supported by the World Bank and the Digital Malawi Acceleration Project( DMAP).
COMESA launches AI and digital inclusion consultations in Malawi
“ AI can transform public services delivery, agriculture, healthcare and trade, but it also raises governance and ethical issues requiring coordinated regional responses,” said Dr Dzawanda.“ Digital Transformation will benefit the region only when all citizens have equitable access to digital technologies.”
Dr Namalomba urged Malawi to shift from consuming emerging technologies towards developing AI-enabled solutions suited to its development needs.
“ The question is not whether AI will create value, but how Malawi can capture a meaningful share of it,” said Dr Namalomba.
The Minister said AI would help improve agriculture, healthcare, education and climate resilience, building on digital foundations such as DMAP and the National Data Centre.
He said digital inclusion had to remain central to Malawi’ s digital transformation, ensuring that AI benefited all citizens, particularly women, young people, rural communities and persons with disabilities.
Yanolja cloud solution introduces AI concierge for hotel operations
Yanolja, a global travel technology company, has announced the global rollout of an AI concierge solution developed by its hospitality technology subsidiary, Yanolja Cloud Solution( YCS), following a preview programme across more than 1,000 hotels in India. The solution will expand to Thailand, the US, Malaysia and Africa. communications, reservations, check-in and check-out, housekeeping, room service, payments and upselling. Through direct integration with the YCS Property Management System( PMS), the solution accesses real-time reservation and room availability data to execute operational tasks rather than simply respond to guest inquiries.
“ As AI reshapes the hospitality industry, hotels are looking beyond automation to intelligent systems that can execute operational tasks and elevate the guest experience,” said Aeijaz Sodawala, CEO of Yanolja Cloud Solution.“ Our AI concierge brings together specialised AI agents, real-time operational data and deep hospitality expertise to simplify daily operations, empower hotel staff and deliver more seamless guest experiences.”
Guests can interact with the AI concierge through WhatsApp or a web-based Guest Portal to confirm reservations, complete digital check-in, request hotel services and make payments. When human assistance is needed, conversations can be seamlessly transferred to hotel staff in real time.
Hotels are increasingly adopting AI to automate repetitive operational tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value guest interactions. According to YCS, a typical 25-room hotel spends up to eight hours each day handling routine guest communications, including reservation inquiries, check-in and check-out requests and room service coordination.
Purpose-built for hotel operations, the AI concierge is powered by a multi-agent architecture in which eight specialised AI agents collaborate across core functions, including guest
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