Global Tech Giants Launch AfricAI in Nigeria to Drive Sovereign AI Development
Four international technology firms—Lakeba Group (Australia), Next Digital (Nigeria), AqlanX (UAE), and Agentic Dynamic (Netherlands)—have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish AfricAI, a new joint venture aimed at strengthening Africa’s AI sovereignty. The initiative will focus on developing enterprise-grade AI solutions tailored to African markets, with Nigeria as the flagship hub for deployment and innovation.
AfricAI will initially leverage Nigeria’s existing national data centers and edge infrastructure to roll out AI-powered applications in healthcare, digital identity, document automation, and public administration. The joint venture aims to position Africa not just as a consumer of AI technology but as a key developer of sovereign, inclusive, and context-aware AI ecosystems designed to address local challenges.
According to the partners, AfricAI will combine global intellectual property, regional expertise, deployment capabilities, and next-gen agentic AI architecture to build scalable solutions. The project envisions a distributed AI network across Africa, supporting sectors such as agriculture, education, urban planning, and enterprise services. By 2026, AfricAI plans to expand into Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda, while also training at least 100 regional AI professionals to build local expertise.
Speaking on the launch, Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, Chairman of Next Digital, emphasized that AfricAI represents more than technology adoption. “This is about exporting African intelligence and building our future on our terms. Nigeria will lead this movement, shaping AI to reflect who we are as Africans,” he said. Similarly, executives from Lakeba Group, AqlanX, and Agentic Dynamic highlighted the importance of digital sovereignty, multilingual compliance, cybersecurity, and ethical deployment as key drivers of the initiative.
AfricAI’s roadmap includes creating a Center of Excellence (CoE) in Nigeria, fostering AI talent, and ensuring all workloads are hosted and governed locally in line with national data residency rules. The project will also accelerate public-private partnerships across fintech, healthcare, government services, and smart infrastructure, while embedding compliance, security, and transparency into every layer of AI deployment. With Nigeria as its launchpad, AfricAI aims to make Africa a global force in AI innovation and digital sovereignty.
Source: Guardian