Smart Africa Calls For Capability Building As AI Adoption Accelerates

Africa’s AI debate is shifting from adoption to capability. Smart Africa CEO Lacina Koné says the continent needs the ability to govern its data, develop useful systems and make its own technology choices as artificial intelligence advances.

Koné made the remarks in London during a Ministerial Alliance for Digital Nations session held as the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation marked its 125th anniversary. He argued that cooperation should focus on shared principles, trust and interoperability without requiring countries to surrender sovereignty or follow identical policy models.

That distinction is important. Harmonisation can make it easier for systems and services to work across borders, but a common framework should not erase national decisions about data, procurement or public interest safeguards. African countries are at different stages of digital development and face different priorities, from connectivity and language access to public-sector capacity and industrial policy.

Koné identified agriculture, healthcare, education, climate and economic transformation as areas where AI should produce practical value. That emphasis moves the conversation away from adoption numbers and towards outcomes: better services, stronger institutions, more productive firms and tools that people can use in their own contexts.

It also raises a question for national AI strategies. Capability is more than a trained workforce or a new model. It includes the ability to evaluate vendors, protect sensitive data, measure whether a system works and change course when it does not. Without those functions, countries can adopt AI quickly while remaining dependent on external infrastructure and standards.

Smart Africa’s position echoes a wider continental conversation about local AI infrastructure and African-language models. But it also introduces a practical test for regional cooperation: can countries build interoperable systems while retaining enough control to set their own priorities?

The answer will determine whether AI becomes another imported layer of digital consumption or a tool that strengthens African institutions and businesses. Capability building is slower than launching a pilot, but it is the part that compounds.

Source: TechReview Africa.