The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has stressed the urgent need for African governments to increase funding for infrastructure in order to enable the continent to benefit from the global surge in artificial intelligence technologies, warning of the risks of missing a major economic transformation opportunity.
The Commission called for adopting a diversified mix of financing tools, including increased borrowing, strengthening domestic revenue mobilization, and tapping into pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, in addition to relying on blended finance mechanisms to bridge the growing investment gap.
The report noted that government financing alone will not be sufficient, underscoring the need to improve tax collection efficiency and activate the role of financial markets in supporting digital infrastructure projects.
The Commission, headquartered in Ethiopia, warned of critical infrastructure gaps, particularly the limited number of data centers. Africa currently hosts less than 1% of the world’s total data centers, posing both an economic and sovereignty challenge.
In the same context, a report by McKinsey projected that artificial intelligence could contribute between $2.9 billion and $4.8 billion to the continent’s economy by 2030, provided that the appropriate enabling environment is established.
The report also emphasized the importance of investing in human capital development and accelerating the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to support a comprehensive, technology-driven growth strategy.
It further explained that adopting artificial intelligence technologies, alongside digital platforms and automated production systems, could help African economies diversify their income sources and transition from reliance on raw material exports to manufacturing and high value-added services.
In conclusion, the Commission affirmed that countries’ competitiveness increasingly depends on their ability to generate, manage, and utilize data, as well as their capacity to adopt advanced technologies.