AI chatbots expand customer service capabilities across Africa

African financial and telecommunications entities are expanding the use of artificial intelligence to enhance customer service. Absa, a pan-African banking group, reports that its AI-powered virtual assistant has reached approximately 1.6 million users, handling over 100,000 queries per month. To support this digital shift, Absa increased its IT-related spending to R8.8 billion in the first half of 2026, focusing on cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and data modernization.

In Zimbabwe, Econet Ai is preparing to launch a Ndebele-speaking customer-support chatbot. This follows the success of its Shona-speaking chatbot, Yamurai, which manages over 70% of customer inquiries. The company plans to expand its language capabilities to include Tonga, Swahili, Mandarin, and French. Econet aims to evolve these tools into “agentic” systems capable of performing tasks such as making restaurant reservations on behalf of customers.