Africa could miss out on a major share of the economic opportunities created by artificial intelligence if governments, businesses and citizens do not trust the systems driving the technology, Microsoft has warned. Akua Gyekye, Microsoft’s Head of Government Affairs for Africa, said the conversation had moved beyond whether the continent would adopt AI to whether it could use the technology responsibly, confidently and at scale.
The warning comes as African countries step up efforts to develop national AI strategies while investing in digital infrastructure, skills and computing capacity. The potential rewards are significant. The African Development Bank estimates that inclusive AI development and deployment could add as much as $1tn to Africa’s GDP by 2035, with agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, wholesale and retail expected to account for about $580bn of the projected gains.
But turning that potential into real economic growth remains a major challenge. Africa continues to face gaps in infrastructure, computing power, digital access, capital and skilled workers. Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion Report for the first quarter of 2026 found that generative AI usage among working-age people was 27.5 per cent in the global North, compared with 15.4 per cent in the global South, highlighting the adoption gap Africa still needs to close.
Gyekye said trust must be built into AI systems from the beginning, rather than treated as a regulatory requirement after the technology has already been developed. She stressed the importance of safeguards that allow organisations to maintain control over their data, workflows and intellectual property, while also encouraging a diverse and interoperable AI ecosystem. Microsoft also pointed to the $5.5m LINGUA Africa initiative, which supports the development of AI models and responsibly sourced language data across more than 50 African languages, dialects and sign languages.
For Africa to capture more value from the AI revolution, Gyekye said governments, technology companies, universities, startups and civil society must work together to develop local talent, research, data and infrastructure. She also called for practical, risk-based regulations that protect citizens without making innovation unnecessarily difficult or expensive. Ultimately, she argued, responsible AI should be viewed not simply as a governance issue but as an economic opportunity, because trust could determine whether Africa merely consumes AI or becomes a meaningful creator of its future.
source: punch
