Dr Alfred Bewindin Sawadogo: Will Africa Be an Actor or a Spectator in the Artificial Intelligence Revolution?
Publish Date: 2026-03-24 00:04:00
Source Domain: africa-news-agency.com
Artificial intelligence (AI) is today one of the most powerful drivers of economic, technological, and social transformation. Its rapid development is redefining production models, labor markets, and power relations between states. However, this technological revolution is unfolding in a profoundly uneven manner worldwide. While the United States, China, and Europe are investing heavily in AI infrastructure, research, and applications, the African continent still lags significantly in several key areas, including digital infrastructure, energy infrastructure, scientific output, and the training of qualified human capital. This article first briefly examines global AI dynamics before analyzing the situation of AI in Africa, which is currently the least prepared region in the world for the AI revolution. It then proposes several avenues likely to foster the emergence of an African AI ecosystem capable of transforming the continent into a full-fledged actor in the ongoing technological revolution.
Global Realities and Dynamics of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be defined as a set of computer techniques enabling machines to imitate certain human cognitive abilities such as learning, pattern recognition, data classification, prediction, or content generation. Unlike the first generation of AI, which emerged in 1956, modern AI mainly relies on machine learning algorithms and the exploitation of massive datasets to train models. In many ways, AI can be likened to an « artificial brain » capable of processing information at a speed and scale far beyond that of the human brain. For example, while an individual can read between 150 and 200 words per minute, an AI system can process one million words in the same period.
Artificial intelligence has gradually become a part of many aspects of daily life. It is now used in recommendation engines on digital platforms, voice assistants, chatbots, facial recognition, and automatic…
