Artificial intelligence is moving deeper into healthcare, education, agriculture and other sectors, but for African countries the question is increasingly whether the continent can build the infrastructure, skills and data needed to shape the technology rather than simply consume it.
The question was among the wider issues discussed at the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2026 in New York, where global leaders examined the expansion of artificial intelligence and other frontier technologies alongside climate, investment and sustainable development.
The meetings, held from 21–24 September alongside the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, brought together more than 600 business executives, 100 senior government and international organisation officials, more than 100 civil society leaders and representatives from academia and younger generations.
The Forum highlighted the growing use of AI to increase productivity, accelerate scientific discovery and expand access to healthcare, education and climate solutions. But it also identified persistent gaps in access, governance, skills and public trust that could determine who benefits from the technology.
For Africa, those gaps are particularly important.
The African Union has already identified AI as a strategic priority and adopted a Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy aimed at developing an Africa-centred and development-focused approach to the technology. The strategy calls for greater investment in infrastructure, computing capacity, data, education, research and innovation, while promoting ethical and inclusive use of AI.
In May 2025, an African Union high-level policy dialogue on AI in Addis Ababa went further, calling for African countries to develop domestic AI capacity and home-grown solutions and to strengthen digital infrastructure, datasets, computing capabilities, skills and research. The meeting also called for greater African participation in global discussions about AI governance.
The infrastructure challenge
The global AI race is increasingly tied to access to computing power, reliable electricity, data centres and connectivity.
The World Economic Forum’s meetings highlighted concerns about the energy demands of AI and the need for more sustainable data-centre development. A Forum report presented at the meetings found that efficiency measures could reduce energy use in data centres by 6.5–11%.
For African countries, the infrastructure question is fundamental. The African Union has identified reliable electricity, broadband, data infrastructure and computing power as prerequisites for developing AI capabilities on the continent.
The AU reported in 2025 that Africa accounted for about 1% of global AI compute capacity, while only about 3% of the global AI talent pool was based on the continent. It also identified gaps in digital infrastructure, high-quality datasets and funding as barriers to wider AI adoption.
These limitations matter because AI systems require more than software. They depend on electricity, connectivity, computing infrastructure, data and people with the skills to develop, adapt and govern them.
Making AI work for African realities
The African Union’s approach puts particular emphasis on developing AI that reflects African languages, cultures, institutions and development priorities.
That includes using AI in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education and public services, while strengthening safeguards around privacy, accountability, transparency and data protection.
This emphasis is also reflected in the World Bank’s 2026 World Development Report, which argues that developing economies do not necessarily need to build the largest AI models to benefit from the technology. Instead, countries can adapt existing tools to local languages, institutions, data and development needs while progressively building the skills and infrastructure required to do more.
For Africa, this could mean developing AI applications around problems that are specific to the continent rather than simply importing systems designed elsewhere.
The African Union has pointed to opportunities in agriculture, healthcare, education, finance and public services, while also stressing the importance of African-owned data and systems that reflect the continent’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
Investment will determine who benefits
The WEF meetings also examined how public finance, private investment and philanthropy can be combined to direct capital towards communities and markets where investment is difficult to mobilise. The Forum identified fragile and frontier markets as areas where public finance can help unlock additional private investment.
That question is particularly relevant to Africa, where countries are trying to expand digital infrastructure while facing competing demands for investment in electricity, education, healthcare, transport and other basic services.
The challenge is therefore not simply whether African countries will use AI. It is whether they can build enough capacity to participate in its development, create local applications and ensure that the economic and social benefits are not concentrated in a small number of countries or companies.
The African Union has warned of this unevenness. At its 2025 high-level AI dialogue, the AU said more than 83% of AI start-up funding in the first quarter of 2025 went to Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, highlighting the concentration of investment within the continent.
From consumers to participants
The WEF meetings described AI as a technology with potential to reshape productivity, scientific discovery, healthcare, education and climate action. But the Forum also stressed that access to these benefits will depend on closing gaps in infrastructure, skills, governance and trust.
For Africa, these are not abstract questions.
The continent has already established a common policy direction through the African Union’s Continental AI Strategy. The next challenge is implementation — building the electricity, connectivity, computing capacity, skills, datasets, research institutions and financing needed to turn that strategy into practical systems.
As AI develops rapidly elsewhere, the choices African countries make now could influence whether the technology deepens existing digital divides or becomes part of the continent’s efforts to address its own development challenges.
