Africa accelerates AI adoption amid infrastructure and security challenges

African nations are accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence while navigating significant infrastructure, security, and sovereignty challenges. South Africa leads the continent in generative AI usage, with over 23% of its workforce actively using the technology, though this rapid integration has increased the cyberattack surface for businesses.

To manage this transition, several countries are implementing formal strategies. Gabon is developing a national AI policy with UNDP support, and Mauritius is conducting a national survey to measure the impact of generative AI on the private sector workforce. Experts emphasize that for Africa to benefit from AI—potentially contributing $1.5 trillion to the economy by 2030—the focus must shift from consuming foreign technology to owning local solutions, including data centers, compute infrastructure, and vernacular language models.

Strategic partnerships are also emerging to address technical bottlenecks. The UNDP and GSMA have partnered to improve access to computing infrastructure for African AI pilots. Meanwhile, regional discussions highlight the need for ‘algorithmic sovereignty,’ urging leaders to prioritize solving local problems in agriculture, health, and education rather than competing solely in the global race for frontier foundation models.