DAY 0: October 13, 2026: Pre-Conference Activities, On-Site Only

3:00 - 3:30 PM

Welcome & Logistics - Moderator

3:30 - 4:00 PM

Pre-Conference Opening Address - UTech President (Dr. Kevin Brown)

4:00 - 4:30 PM

VIP Introduction: Jamaica Government Representatives, Ambassadors, CARICOM Representative, AU Representative, Other VIPs

4:30 - 5:00 PM

Presentation: Pan-African/Pan-Caribbean AI & Smart Systems In the Caribbean - Motivation and Vision (Drs. Thomas Ndousse & David White)

5:00 - 5:30PM

Keynote Address: Africa and CARICOM AI Collaboration: Harnessing the Potentials of ~ 2 Billlion AI consumers and Technology Space (Mr. Ambassador Lloyd Carney)

5:30 - 6:30 PM

Panel Discussion: AI and Digital Sovereignty: A Challenge for Emerging Countries - (MS. Charmaine DeLisser)
Pannelists: MS. Charmaine DeLisser - Moderator, Dr. Sheldon Campbell, Dr. Thomas Ndousse, Dr. Sean Thorpe, MS. Simone Pasmore

6:30 - 7:30 PM

Panel Discussions: AI-Driven climate Change and Natural Disaster Modeling: Strengthening Africa-Caribbean Collaboration for Hurricane and Seismic Risk Management - (Dr. David White)

7:30 - 8: 30 PM

Refreshments and Networking

DAY 1: October 14, 2026 - Pan African AI & Smart Systems Conference

7:00 - 8:00 AM

Arrival & Coffee

8:00 - 8:15 AM

Logistics

8:15 - 8:30 AM

Call to order - Moderator

8:30 - 9:00 AM

Opening remarks - UT president (Dr. Kevin Brown)

9:00 - 9:45 AM

Opening Remarks - CARICOM/AU

9:45 - 10:30 AM

PAI-AI&SS conference Motivation

10:30- 11:30 AM

Plenary Talk: Ombuki-Berman. Talk Title:
Room 1

11:30 - 12:00 AM

Conference photo session and networking

12:00 - 1:40 PM

Lunch Break

Session 1
Room #1, #2, #3

Session 1
Room 1
Session Chair:

Session 2
Room 2
Session Chair:

Session 3
Room 3
Session Chair:

1:45 - 2:05 PM

S011: Neural Architectures for Large-Scale Retrieval:
Benchmarking Transformers Against Recurrent Neural Network Baselines

Authors: Roccas Raveendran, Isaac Woungang, Alagan Anpalagan and Ahmed Shaharyar Khwaja

S021: Clinically-Aware Uncertainty-Adaptive Ensemble Learning for Rare Pediatric Bronchiolitis Severity Prediction under Extreme Data Scarcity

Authors: Tabueu Fotso Laurent Cabrel

S031: An Overview of Error-Correcting Code Decoding Techniques Based on Machine Learning

Authors: Elie Ngomseu Mambou and Ebenezer Esenogho

2:05 - 2:25PM

S012: Zero-Shot Entropy-Based Detection of AI-Generated Images: A Multi-Objective Comparative Benchmark Against Supervised Deep Learning Detectors

Author: Mumbua Mutuku

S022: Interpretable Slice-Based Alzheimer’s Disease Classification: A Class Activation Mapping Analysis of
Entropy-Guided 2D Sampling

Authors: Loic Steave Kamga Dzukam, Maurice Tchoupe Tchendji, Marcellin Atemkeng, Yusuf Brima, Habachi Bilal, Sebastien Lallechere, Jerome Rossignol and Blaise Ravelo

S032: Privacy-Preserving Multi-Modal Behavioural Threat Detection at the Edge: A Weighted Index Approach for ATM Security

Authors: Jayden-Lee Van Rooyen and Nathan Naidoo

2:25 - 2:45 PM

S013: Distributed Multi-Agent Coordination at Roundabouts Using Group Mutual Exclusion

Authors: Obaya Mureille Laure, Vivient Corneille Kamla and Igor Tchappi Haman

S023: Improving Data Quality in HIV Electronic Patient Management Systems: A Hybrid Rule-Based and Record Linkage Approach for Namibia’s Quantum ePMS

Authors: Sem Ndongo, Clopas Kwenda and Stephen Fashoto

S033: A Federated Learning-Based Intrusion Detection System for Multi-Stage Advanced Persistent Threat Recognition in Edge/Fog Computing Environments

Authors: Owusu Buabeng, Justice Agyeman and Kwame Agyekum

2:40 - 3:05 PM

S014: A Causal Belief Propagation Algorithm for Decentralized Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

Authors: Elliot Attipoe and Ransford Tamanja

S024: Forecasting Malaria Incidence in Low-Density Surveillance
Time Series Using a Genetic Algorithm-Optimized Neural Network with Epidemiologically Weighted Loss

Authors: Yannick Tshomb Tshomb, Apollinaire Batouré Bamana and
Joseph Fidekna Ngaitouang

S034: Enabling Secure Token Revocation in Blockchain-Based ABAC for IoT Edge Networks

Authors: Stephen Nana Kwame Obeng

3:05 - 3:20 PM

Coffee Break

3:30 - 4:30 PM

Panel Discussion: Beyond Parity: Re-imagining AI, Gender, and Opportunities in Africa & the Caribbean (Dr. Lisa Facey-Shaw)
Dr. Lisa Facey-Shaw (Moerator), Dr Thomas Ndousse, MS AManda Zillla, MS Charlette N’Guessan, Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebin

5:00 PM

Adjourn

DAY 2: October 15, 2026 - Pan African AI & Smart Systems Conference

7:00 - 8:00 AM

Arrival & Breakfast

8:00 - 8:15 AM

Conference logistics

8:15 - 8:30 AM

Announcement

9:00 - 10:00 AM

Plenary Talk:
Room 1

10:00 - 10:20 AM

Coffee Break

Sessions
Tracks #1, #2, #3

Session 4
Room 1
Session Chair:

Session 5
Room 2
Session Chair:

Session 6
Room 3
Session Chair:

10:25 - 10:45 AM

S041: Structured Weighting Laws for Ensemble Learning: The Golden Ratio as a Case Study

Author: Ernest Fokoue

S051: Explainable Deep Learning for Sustainable Rice Yield
Prediction Under Climate Change Charles Roland Haruna, Sandro

Authors: Kwame Amofa, Maame Gyamfua Asante-Mensah and Stephen Julius AtsuAbdel Aziz Mouamfon Mounguetyi, Andronicus Akinyelu and Esther O. Esho

S061: GEC-VHFL: Communication-Efficient Vertical—Horizontal Federated Learning with Joint Update and Embedding Compression

Authors: Caleb Adofo Frempong, Juliet Arthur, Frederica Efia Birago Owusu, Stephen Nana Kwame Obeng, Ewurama Owireduwaa Owiredu-Ghorman, Gilbert Second Odjamgba, Owusu Buabeng, Christopher Selasi Dzidolawo, Kwame Opuni-Boachie Obour Agyekum and Justice Owusu Agyemang

10:45 - 11:05 AM

S042: Cartograph: Federated Tool Discovery with Operator-Attested Retrieval for AI Agents

Authors: Justice Owusu Agyemang, Michael Agyare, Kwame Opuni-Boachie Obour Agyekum, Kwame Agyeman-Prempeh Agyekum, Francisca Acheampong and Jerry John Kponyo

S052: Evaluating Cross-Domain Transfer Learning for Real-Time Marine Debris Detection Toward Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Mitigation

Authors: Farha Mustan and Andronicus Akinyelu

S062: LightCert-Quorum: An Internet of Things Digital Certificate Management Approach Based on Blockchain Technology and Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Authors: W. C. Bertin Kabore, Assane Ilboudo and Didier Bassole

11:05 - 11:25 AM

S043: Auditing Explanation Stability in Early Sepsis Prediction: A Quantitative Analysis of SHAP and LIME

Authors: Takunda Mumvuma, Tsholofelo Mokheleli and Tebogo Makaba

S053: Attention-Enhanced Ensemble Deep Learning Models for Multi-Crop Disease Classification

Authors: Tembelihle Apleni, Andronicus Akinyelu and Jean Fonou-Dombeu

S063: Pearson’s Weighted Power Allocation in an Uplink PD-NOMA Network

Authors: Andrew Macharia, Tom Walingo and Jules-Raymond Tapamo

11:25 - 11:45 AM

S044: Random-Variable Dependence in Sine Cosine Optimization for Electric-Vehicle Charging with Load Uncertainty and Transformer Thermal Memory

Authors: Yanxia Sun and Zenghui Wang

S054: CNN Backbones with PCA and Gaussian Membership Function Pipelines for Maize Pest Identification: A Comparative
Accuracy-Efficiency Study

Authors; Bonga Gibson Baleni, Ayinde Usman and Clement Nyirenda

S064: Lightweight Near-Real-Time Detection of DNS-Based Data Exfiltration Using Behavioral Traffic Analysis

Authors: Thabang Kenneth Mpeko, Ramahlapane Lerato Moila and Mthulisi Velempini

12:00 - 01:00 PM

Lunch

1:00 - 1:20 PM

Plenary Talk:
Room 1

Sessions
Rooms

Session 7
Room 1
Session Chair:

Session 8
Room 2
Session Chair:

Session 9
Room 3
Session Chair:

2:05 - 2:25 PM

S071: A Hybrid LSTM–XGBoost Framework with Attention and Explainability for Sustainable and Interpretable Electric Vehicle Charging Demand Forecasting

Authors: Andronicus Akinyelu and Esther O. Esho ,

S081: Detecting uterine fibroids in ultrasound images using deep learning and explainable AI approaches in Eswatini

Authors: Elliot Mbunge, Nombuso Chirwa, Petros Mashwama and Stephen Fashoto

S091: Governing agentic AI systems: A bibliometric analysis of governance frameworks, accountability mechanisms and policy directions

Authors: Kudakwashe Maguraushe, Belinda Ndlovu, Bester Chimbo and Fine Masimba

2:25 - 2:45 PM

S072: Predicting cigarette smoking among men using explainable machine learning and the 2023–24 Lesotho demographic and health survey data

Authors: Andronicus Akinyelu and Esther O. Esho

S082: Statistically Validated Synthetic Data-Driven Stacking Ensemble for Diabetes Screenin


Authors: Elliot Attipoe and Ransford Tamanja

S092: Trustworthy AI Teammates for Software Engineering: A Research Agenda for Lifecycle Context, Explainability, and Agentic Collaboration

Author: Glaucia Melo

2:45 - 3:05 PM

S073: Robust Emotion Recognition Through Generative Adversarial Audio Enhancement and Multi-Branch Deep Learning Model

Authors: Bakri Ahmed and Serestina Viriri

S083 A Shift-Aware Explainable Machine Learning Framework for Temporal Mental Health Surveillance


Authors: Tsholofelo Mokheleli, Tebogo Makaba and Patrick Ndayizigamiye

S093: Context-Aware Pre-Deployment Evaluation of Large Language Models: A Regulatory Framework for Nigerian Fintech

Authors: Andrew Uduimoh, Hadiza Yusuf and Oluwafem Osho

3:05 - 3:25 PM

S074: Comparative Assessment of Conventional and Pruned Random Forest Models for Predicting Fluoride Contamination in
Groundwater: A Case Study from North-eastern Ghana

Authors: Theophilus Ansah-Narh, George Y. Afrifa, Joseph A. Tandoh, Marcellin Atemkeng, Emmanuel Sunkari, Kow A. Essel-Yorke and M. S. Hayford

S084: An Adaptive Feature Fusion and Enhancement Framework for Nuclei Instance Segmentation




Authors: Wilson Bakasa, Clopas Kwenda, Cleverence Kombe and Ofaletse Mphale

S094: Monitoring Maritime Activities in Namibia’s Exclusive Economic Zone Using Machine Learning Techniques: A Systematic Review


Authors: Leonard Tukondjere, Stephen Fashoto, Gabriel Nhinda, Faith-Michael Uzoka, Khandjimi Herman and Sebastian
Mukumbira

3:25 - 4:00 PM

Coffee Break

4:00 - 4:20 PM

Presentation

5:00 - 6:00 PM

Panel Discussion #2: ANLP Symposium: African Natural Language Processing
Room 1

6:30 PM

Adjourn

DAY 3: October 16, 2026 - Pan African AI & Smart Systems Conference

7:00 - 8:00 AM

Arrival &Coffee

8:00 - 8:15 AM

Conference logistics

8:15 - 8:30 AM

Conference annoucement

9:00 - 9:45 AM

Plenary Talk:
Zoom Link :

9:45 - 10:00 AM

Coffee Break

Sessions
Rooms

Session 10
Room 1
Session Chair:

Session 11
Room 2
Session Chair:

Session 12
Room 3
Session Chair:

10:00 - 10:20 AM

S101: A Transformer Ensemble Approach for Multilingual Sentiment Analysis


Authors: Nkongolo Wa Nkongolo, Isaac Lupanda and Phil Van Devente

S111: A Forward-Chaining Approach to Early and Adaptive DDoS Mitigation


Authors: Robert Galatiya Suya, Marc Anselme Kamga and John Bosco Ogwang

S121: AI-Native 6G Network Architectures for Distributed Resource Allocation: A Comprehensive Survey

Authors: Elie Ngomseu Mambou, Ebenezer Esenogho and Ahmed Lakhssassi

10:25 - 10:45 AM

S102: Robust Emotion Recognition Through Generative Adversarial Audio Enhancement and Multi-Branch Deep Learning Models



Author: Bakri Ahmed

S112: A Multi-Station Dual-Output LSTM Framework for Short-Term Extreme Rainfall Prediction - A Case Study for KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa

Authors: Braiton U. Mukhalela, Serestina Viriri, David Ndzi, Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir, Naeem Ramzan, Fahad Ayaz, Michael Gebreslasie, Mary Lynch, Llinos Haf Spencer, Saloshni Naidoo, Nisha Nadesan-Reddy, Ozayr Mahomed, Natalie Dickinson and Fiona

S122: Explainable Illicit Bitcoin Transaction Detection: Comparing Tabular Machine Learning and Graph Neural Networks under Temporal Shift


Authors: Avikumar Patel, Isaac Woungang, Alagan Anpalagan and Ahmed Shaharyar Khwaja

10:50– 11:10 AM

S103: LLM-Assisted Sentiment Lexicon Construction for Low-Resource African Languages

Author: Koena Mabokela

S113: An Integrated Computer Vision Pipeline for Pest and Disease Symptom Detection and Severity Assessment in Maize and Eggplant in Senegal

Authors: Awa Diattara, Oumar Mal Sarr, Moustapha Mbaye, Khadim Touré and Mohamed Cissé

S123: From Standard RAG to Agentic Orchestration: An Architecture for Moodle-Based Educational Conversational Agents

Authors: Awa Diattara, Mouhamadou Lamine Diakhame, Nour El Mawas and Valéry Psyché

11: 10 - 11:40 AM

Coffee Break

11:40 - 12:00 AM

S131: Artificial intelligence in higher education pedagogy: a bibliometric review with an assessment of African representation

Authors: Linuse Mevic Jezugnon Tikpon and Vinasetan Ratheil Houndji

S141: Artificial Intelligence in Aquaculture Management: Advances, Applications, and Future Directions

Authors: Kingsley Enalume and Ebenezer Esenogho

S151: Machine Learning-Based Decision Support for Funding
Application Assessment: A Case Study from a Senegalese
Public-Sector Organization

Authors: El Hadji Serigne Mamour Diop, Saly Samake and Khadim Ba

12:05– 12:25

S132: Explainable Deep Learning for Early Detection of Academic Pressure Induced Mental Health Risks in Tertiary School Students.



Authors: Ubi Kalu Kalu, Ofaletse Mphale and Wilson Bakasa

S142: Region-Guided Food-Package Evidence Extraction and Abstention-Aware Draft R3337 Warning-Criteria Screening with Selective VLM Review




Authors: Mayimunah Nagayi, Rina Swart, Alic

152: Beyond Pixels: A Synergistic Preprocessing Approach for
High-Accuracy Facial Recognition

Authors: Ibrahim Aoudou Pouamoun, Ado Adamou Abba Ari, Justin Moskolai Ngossaha, Francis Yongwa Dtissibe, Rene Ndoundam and Abdelhak Mourad Guerou

12:30 – 12:50 AM

S153: Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Smart Cane Navigation: A Comparative Evaluation of DQN and PPO in a Simulated Environment

Authors: Ruchelle Coetzee and Mehrdad Ghaziasgar

11:05 - 11:45 AM

Lunch

12: 00 PM

Awards Ceremony
Closing Remarks - Utech President---