Africa Declaration on AI; $60 billion development fund
Africa AI News weekly digest...
Good morning, and welcome to this week’s issue of Africa AI News – Weekly News Digest.
Things have picked up quickly, with a lot of news in the past week — mostly interesting new applications, new funding for the sector, and also some major events with heavy-hitters on the agenda.
AfricaAINews.com takes a deeper look at last week’s announcement by Cassava of a major AI-led DC buildout, picking through the scant detail for clues.
There is also plenty of news from the AI Summit in Kigali last week, as well as some great applications stories.
On with this week’s issue!
/Roger
Global AI Summit on Africa
Africa’s historic AI Declaration and $60-bn development fund
#Africa #Rwanda #AISummit — The Africa Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, signed by 54 nations, was unveiled at the Global AI Summit on Africa in Kigali. It includes plans for a $60 billion Africa AI Fund and formalises the proposed Africa AI Council to drive cross-border AI governance. (PML Daily)
Study warns African women more at risk of losing jobs to AI
#Africa #AISummit — A new study released at the Global AI Summit in Kigali reveals that African women in outsourcing roles are more likely than men to lose jobs to AI and automation by 2030. The report also warns that the continent’s booming outsourcing sector may slow and urges a focus on upskilling. (AP)
Rwanda and Gates Foundation launch AI Scaling Hub
#Rwanda #AISummit — Rwanda’s Ministry of ICT and the Gates Foundation have signed a $7.5 million MoU to establish the Rwanda AI Scaling Hub. Hosted by C4IR Rwanda, the hub will develop and scale ethical AI solutions in healthcare, agriculture, and education. (C4IR Rwanda)
Oman, Saudi and UAE explore African AI partnerships
#Saudi #GlobalAISummit – Several Gulf states attended the Global AI Summit on Africa in Kigali. Oman signed a digital cooperation deal with Rwanda, while Saudi Arabia and the UAE discussed partnerships and investments with African nations. (Oman Observer) (Arab News) (Emirates News Agency)
Data Centres
Cassava to pump $720m into African AI factories
#SouthAfrica #investment — A little more detail is emerging of the Africa Data Centres investment. Cassava Technologies will invest up to $720-million to build Africa’s first AI factory in partnership with Nvidia, likely a mix of its own capital and taking on debt. The facility will begin operations in South Africa with 3,000 GPUs by June, expanding to 12,000 units across five countries. (Bloomberg via TechCentral)
Funding
InfiniLink lands $10m to scale optical chip innovation
#Egypt #funding — Cairo-based InfiniLink will use its $10 million seed round, led by Taiwan’s MediaTek and Saudi’s Sukna Ventures, to develop optical transceivers that reduce energy use in AI data centres. The startup was founded in 2022 to tackle scalability issues, with a new silicon photonics technology, which includes integrated optical transceiver chiplets (iOTC). (Empower Africa)
CoEs
Capgemini to open AI hub in New Cairo
#Egypt #CoEs – Capgemini will open a new AI Centre of Excellence in New Cairo to support clients across Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. The hub will drive industry-specific AI adoption, expand R&D. (Middle East AI News)
New AI hub to launch at SA Military Academy in May
#SouthAfrica #education — South Africa opened its fourth AI hub last week at the SA Military Academy in Saldanha Bay. This joins the three AI hubs already opened at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2022, at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in 2023, and the third in February at the Central University of Technology. The project is led by the AI Institute SA in collaboration with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. (SAAI Association)
Policy
G20 working groups call for more language diversity
#SouthAfrica #language — Yesterday South Africa hosted the Second Task Force Meeting: Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance and Innovation for Sustainable Development in Gqeberha. These Task Force meetings are warmups to the G20 Summit in SA in November. South Africa called for G20 support for initiatives that develop AI in low-resource languages and share data and tools to make this possible. (SA News Service, SABC News)
Report: Governance of AI in pubic health in Africa
#Africa #healthcare — This report, prepared by the Science for Africa Foundation, provides a comprehensive review of the governance of AI and data science for global health in Africa. Full report here. (Science for Africa)
Morocco tops Maghreb in AI readiness, says UN
#Morocco #strategy — Morocco ranks first in the Maghreb and second in Africa for AI readiness, according to UNCTAD’s Frontier Technologies Readiness Index. The country placed 67th globally and saw its programmer base grow 35% in one year, underscoring its growing capacity in advanced technologies. (Yabiladi)
Applications
Egypt launches AI-driven tourism strategy to boost sector
#Egypt #tourism — Egypt is integrating AI technologies like augmented and virtual reality to enhance tourist experiences at sites in Cairo, Luxor and the Grand Egyptian Museum. So says a review of various initiatives backed by the National AI Strategy 2025–2030, which aim to boost revenue and modernise travel infrastructure. (Travel and Tour World)
Namibia adopts AI X-ray tech to fight TB nationwide
#Namibia #healthcare — Namibia is rolling out AI-powered digital chest X-rays to enhance TB screening and early diagnosis. With one of the world’s highest TB rates, the Ministry of Health aims to expand this technology and improve treatment through rapid diagnostics and partnerships. (Xinhua)
ChatGPT tops by far with SA AI users
#SouthAfrica #LLMs — Online tech site MyBroadband did a survey of the most popular AI tools in SA this month, Not surprisingly ChatGPT came in tops with 42% of respondents saying they regularly used it, with Gemini (Google) coming in at 13% and Grok (xAI) and Copilot (MS) at 11%. DeepSeek already at 8% with Llama barely featuring. Not asked was whether users paid or used the free version. (MyBroadband)
Conferences
Ghana AI Summit 2025 honours top innovators, launches vision
#Ghana #innovation — Held at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre, the Ghana AI Summit & Awards 2025 celebrated leaders and breakthroughs in AI, from agriculture to cybersecurity. Honourees included Fido, mNotify, and Abena AI, with awards highlighting research, startups and social impact. (The High Street Journal)
SA’s CAIR 2025 academic conference on AI announced for December
#SouthAfrica #research — The fourth edition of this conference happens at the University of the Western Cape from 1-5 Dec 2025 under the auspices of the SA Center for AI Research. This academic multi- and interdisciplinary event has a focus on growing a network of talented students working in AI from across Africa. (SA Conference for AI Research)
AI Expo Africa AI & Intelligent Automation dates announced
#SouthAfrica #conferences — Running from 29th-31st October 2025 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, and including the first UN ITU AI4Good Impact Africa Summit. AI Expo Africa is in its 8th year, pegging itself as Africa’s largest Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and smart tech trade event in Africa. (AI Expo Africa)
Media
Middle East AI News joins AI Film & Ad Fest Dubai
#UAE #advertising – Middle East AI News is now a Media Partner for the inaugural AI Film & Ad Fest Dubai 2025. Taking place on 24 April at the Theatre of Digital Art, the event will showcase AI-generated ads and short films, with panels and masterclasses exploring AI storytelling and creative production. (AI Film Fest)
[ This newsletter was human written and AI summarised ]