A technician works at an Amazon Web Services AI data centre.|Amazon News
A new report warns Africa’s digital economy could shrink further behind global peers without major infrastructure investment.
A new report by Boston Consulting Group warns that Africa risks becoming a permanent consumer rather than a creator of artificial intelligence unless the continent urgently invests in digital infrastructure, particularly data centres. Kenya is positioning itself among the countries attempting to close that gap.
The report, titled Advancing Africa’s AI and Digital Economy, found that although Africa is home to 18 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for less than one percent of global data centre capacity. The continent’s digital economy contributes only five percent of GDP, well below the global average of 15 percent.
At the current pace, the report projects Africa’s digital economy will reach just 8.5 percent of GDP by 2050, leaving the continent trailing other regions even as artificial intelligence is expected to contribute an estimated $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
Hamid Maher, BCG managing director and senior partner, said Africa’s core challenge has shifted from technology adoption to technology production. He noted the continent has the world’s youngest population and one of the fastest-growing cloud markets, but lacks the infrastructure needed to retain data, talent and economic value locally.
The report warns African countries risk exporting valuable data to foreign technology firms, which develop AI models abroad before selling the resulting services back to African users under costly licensing arrangements. A language gap compounds the problem, with less than two percent of Africa’s roughly 2,000 languages adequately supported by large language models.
Kenya’s government has intensified efforts to attract cloud computing and data centre investment, positioning the country as a digital gateway for Eastern and Central Africa. Officials point to carrier-neutral and enterprise data centres already operating in the country under firms including iXAfrica, Africa Data Centres, Safaricom, Liquid Intelligent Technologies and the Konza National Data Centre.
Oracle is also establishing its first cloud region in Kenya, reinforcing Nairobi’s growing role as a regional cloud-computing hub. The Konza National Data Centre has become a cornerstone of the government’s digital transformation strategy, supporting artificial intelligence, big data analytics and e-government platforms for both public and private sector services.
According to GSMA, digital transformation could contribute roughly Sh662 billion to Kenya’s GDP by 2028 while creating approximately 300,000 jobs, driven by wider digital adoption across agriculture, manufacturing, transport and trade. Even so, the International Monetary Fund has noted that Sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag in AI readiness due to unreliable electricity, limited internet access and inadequate digital infrastructure.
Only about 38 percent of Africans used the internet in 2024, and the continent’s data centres remain concentrated mainly in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. BCG recommends expanding digital infrastructure through public-private partnerships and pooled cross-border investment, alongside greater adoption of open-are
