With the youngest population in the world and a rapidly expanding digital economy, the continent has the demographic advantage needed to become a global AI powerhouse. Yet, despite its promise, Africa’s AI ecosystem remains significantly underdeveloped. Annual investment in AI across the continent is estimated at just $2–3 billion—roughly 1 per cent of global AI spending. Nonye Ujam says this funding gap underscores a broader challenge: the absence of large-scale, locally grounded AI infrastructure and skills development frameworks. She argues that sustainable AI growth in Africa must be built around solutions designed for the continent’s linguistic, cultural, and socioeconomic diversity.