Artificial Intelligence : Africa Takes the Lead in Its Digital Revolution
Smart Africa and a broad coalition of African public, private, and academic actors gathered at the Transform Africa Summit – whose 7th edition, and the first in Francophone Africa, took place from November 12 to 14 in Conakry – reaffirm their ambition: to develop an artificial intelligence designed for Africa, inclusive, multilingual, and aligned with the continent’s socio-economic priorities.
Report by Dounia Ben Mohamed, Conakry – Images by Emmanuel Millimono
Africa is on the verge of a major digital transformation with the emergence of artificial intelligence tailored to its realities. The goal is clear: to create an AI that is accessible to all, respectful of local languages and cultures, and capable of addressing African challenges in education, health, agriculture, and financial inclusion.
According to a report by the African Union and the African Development Bank, the AI market in Africa could generate nearly $20 billion by 2030, with an annual growth of 25% in fintech, e-health, and smart city sectors.
The Transform Africa Summit, the first edition in Francophone Africa, served as a strategic platform to materialize this vision. During this edition, dedicated to African artificial intelligence, governments, companies, and academic institutions exchanged on the continent’s priorities, innovative initiatives, and ways to ensure that AI is inclusive, locally relevant, and a driver of development across key sectors.
AI for Africa is an equalizer. Even in rural areas or among non-literate populations, it can enable everyone to actively participate in economic and social development
« AI for Africa is an equalizer. Even in rural areas or among non-literate populations, it can enable everyone to actively participate in economic and social development, » emphasizes Lacina Koné, Director General of Smart Africa. He explains that adapting to local languages, such as Wolof, Berber, or Arabic, allows millions of people previously excluded from digital tools to be reached. Major African languages should thus become vectors of digital inclusion, not barriers.
In education, AI offers unprecedented opportunities. Personalized digital agents can provide students with tailored guidance, even remotely, and facilitate access to knowledge for populations far from educational centers. In health, AI-assisted diagnostic systems can quickly analyze data to identify anomalies and guide patients to appropriate care. The economy also benefits from this transformation: digital platforms allow entrepreneurs, notably rural women, to create, sell, and manage their activities while remaining connected to a global market.
This requires putting in place the ecosystem necessary for a “Made in Africa” AI.
Guinea, host country of TAS2025, is among the nations that have adopted a strategy dedicated to AI development. Addressing the foundation, the country is currently training 1,500 women in digital learning centers, giving them the skills to create value from home.
Rose Pola Pricemou, Guinea’s Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, emphasized that digital technology is a transversal infrastructure that supports all sectors: “Whether it is energy, education, industry, or health, digital must empower every sector.” In Guinea, this translates into massive investments: creation of technopoles, training of hundreds of rural women, development of digital learning centers, and legal framework reforms (data protection, tax incentives).
Our students must become AI creators, not just consumers
Training plays a key role in this strategy. Universities such as Carnegie Mellon Africa or the African Virtual University educate students from over twenty countries to become AI experts. According to Conrad Tucker (CMU-Africa), “We do not want just consumers of AI, but creators: engineers capable of designing algorithms, managing datasets, and building AI adapted to Africa.” This technical expertise is crucial to ensure AI models reflect African values, cultures, and priorities. The educational approach aims to develop talent able to respond to local needs while contributing to the global AI ecosystem, he adds.
Developing African AI also requires robust infrastructure and appropriate regulatory ecosystems. Initiatives such as the Smart Africa Data Exchange Platform (SADX), tested in Benin, Ghana, and Rwanda, enable digital identity verification and cross-border interoperability, laying the foundations for a unified digital market.
Building the pillars of technological sovereignty
Challenges remain: internet access, connectivity costs, data protection, and building representative African datasets are essential to ensure technological sovereignty.
One of the most strategic dimensions discussed at the summit is digital sovereignty. It is not just about using AI, but producing it locally: creating African datasets, training talent, and hosting data on the continent. “We must preserve our languages, our values, our culture,” insists Koné. This sovereignty also relies on continental cooperation: emerging technologies, including AI, must strengthen African convergence rather than deepen divisions.
In this regard, the launch of Telemo, a platform dedicated to public procurement, resulting from collaboration with Rwanda, is noteworthy. Likewise, the partnership between Smart Africa and YouthConnekt Africa, signed during the summit, illustrates the commitment to mobilize youth in digital transformation. Mentorship, innovation and entrepreneurship programs, and active participation in the digital economy are all initiatives aimed at creating a generation capable of driving African AI.
AI is not just a technological revolution; it is a catalyst to accelerate our digital transformations and include every African in the continent’s development
Today, this ambition rests on a solid foundation. Smart Africa, a pan-African organization created in 2013 and operational since 2016, coordinates 42 member states and represents nearly 1.2 billion people. The Alliance has led more than 18 continental projects on emerging technologies, spanning digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, education, and capacity building. As Lacina Koné emphasizes: “AI is not just a technological revolution; it is a catalyst to accelerate our digital transformations and include every African in the continent’s development.”
As the next Transform Africa Summit is already being prepared, one conviction is clear: Africa no longer wants to be a spectator in the artificial intelligence revolution. It wants to become a driving force, leveraging its talents, needs, languages, and its own vision of the future.
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