Will Africa’s AI Moment Ever Come?
By Tonee Ndungu
Over the past 12 months, I’ve sat in rooms that didn’t have African names on the door. No African menus. No African heads of state. No African media moguls. No African startups showcasing breakthroughs. No young African coders pitching the future.
But still, Africa was there.
In the African interns advocating behind the scenes. In the African diaspora students asking uncomfortable questions at public forums. In the African artists capturing our struggles and beauty. In the African entrepreneurs juggling side hustles to survive. Africa was there in everyday Africans- seen and unseen- trying to carve a place for our continent in global AI conversations. And yes, in me: not a coder, not a technologist, but someone who believes education, AI, and storytelling can move mountains, if we choose to move them.
Which brings me to the question: Will Africa’s AI moment ever come?
It won’t. Unless we bring it.
There is no spaceship of experts landing to solve this for us. There is no magical policy that will ignite African AI overnight. There is no white paper that will fund your startup. And no, Silicon Valley will not save us.
AI in Africa will happen because we, the people, use it. Tinker with it. Learn from it. Build on it. Break it. Rebuild it. Teach it our languages. Point it at our problems. Use it to decode our systems, translate our stories, audit our governments, amplify our innovations, and redefine what “African potential” really means.
It doesn’t matter if your government is onboard or not. It doesn’t matter if your school doesn’t teach it. It doesn’t matter if your company still thinks WhatsApp is “tech innovation.” If you’re reading this, you already have more power in your hands than any previous generation. Use it.
Micro-clusters. Mega change.
Across the continent, small collectives are already doing the work. No billboards. No headlines. Just impact.
Academics training new AI researchers on bare-bones GPUs. Entrepreneurs building bots in borrowed co-working spaces. NGOs testing AI-driven health tools in rural clinics. Creators using AI to translate their content across languages, from Kiswahili to Hausa to Shona, to reach new audiences. That’s how this begins: small teams, real users, local context, relentless iteration.
We don’t need 55 national AI strategies. We need 5 breakout success stories. Something tangible. Something that shows AI isn’t for the West, it’s for us. Something that proves the opportunity is not theoretical. It’s practical, powerful, and already being seized by people just like you. Or me.
Being an owner means showing up.
Ownership does not start with funding. It starts with responsibility.
Be responsible for your own learning. For the tools you use. For how you speak about Africa’s potential, not as victims, not as late adopters, but as leaders in a different form of innovation. Not extractive, but regenerative. Not imitative, but culturally and continentally authentic.
Being an owner means building from where you stand. In your home, your school, your village, your office, your WhatsApp group, your dataset. It could be as small as a prototype, a lesson plan, a chatbot, or a podcast. Or as large as a startup, a movement, or a vision for continental infrastructure.
But do something.
Because while the rest of the world debates AI ethics, alignment, and regulation, we must ensure we’re not just being aligned, but included. And that inclusion won’t be granted. It must be claimed.
The real heroes will be AI-powered.
Africa Business Heroes has shown us what’s possible when African entrepreneurs lead with purpose. But the next wave of heroes? They’ll be AI-augmented.
They’ll use AI to scale faster, hire smarter, serve wider. They’ll move across languages, borders, and sectors - building payment systems, health apps, agri-solutions, edtech platforms, all powered by tools that learn as they grow.
And they’ll come from places no one expects - not just Nairobi or Lagos, but Turkana, Lira, Dolisie, or Toliara. Because with AI, geography is not a limitation. Imagination is.
So, will Africa’s AI moment ever come?
Only if we stop waiting and start building.
Start where you are. Use what you have. And if you can’t find a seat at the AI table- flip the script. Build your own table. Invite your tribe. Share your tools.
That’s how the moment comes.
That’s how it becomes ours.
