Across Africa, policymakers are setting ambitious goals to harness the transformative power of artificial intelligence. But there’s a critical piece of the puzzle that often gets overlooked: the foundational infrastructure needed to build and deploy AI at scale.
📊What We’ve Learned from Africa’s AI Policies
Our research into key AI strategies across the continent reveals a shared recognition: AI adoption will remain limited without robust computing and energy infrastructure. Here’s what the policies emphasize:
🌐African Union Continental AI Strategy: Highlights the need for investments in high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, cloud platforms, and reliable electricity. The strategy underscores the critical role of energy in enabling AI innovation.
🇳🇬Nigeria’s AI Strategy: Prioritizes HPC centres, affordable computing resources, and clean-energy-powered AI clusters to reduce reliance on unstable national grids. The goal is to ensure sustainable power sources for AI infrastructure.
🇰🇪Kenya’s Digital Master Plan: Calls for reliable power sources and data centre expansion to support ICT and smart city services. Kenya’s strategy acknowledges that sustainable electricity is a prerequisite for deploying AI solutions.
🇿🇦South Africa’s National AI Framework: Emphasizes the development of supercomputing infrastructure as a cornerstone for AI research and deployment. To meet these needs, the framework identifies the importance of ensuring a stable and scalable power supply. South Africa must modernize its energy systems to handle the significant demands of HPC facilities.
💡 The Common Thread: Energy and Compute Are Non-Negotiable AI development requires immense computational power and uninterrupted energy. Training large AI models demands high-performance GPUs operating 24/7, while real-time AI systems rely on scalable data centres to meet user demands. Without these foundational elements, Africa’s AI ambitions cannot translate into action.
What are the biggest obstacles to building AI-ready infrastructure in Africa? Share your thoughts in the comments below! 👇
📌 Sources:
🔗 African Union (African Union) – Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy: https://lnkd.in/exJ44GYP
🔗 Kenya Digital Master Plan 2022-2032 (ICT Authority) https://lnkd.in/eDXXk-Au
🔗 Nigeria – National AI Strategy (NITDA Nigeria) : https://lnkd.in/dEGMf3ny
🔗 South Africa National AI Policy Framework (The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies) : https://lnkd.in/eYe3cPfm
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