Africa’s growing ambition to build a competitive artificial intelligence economy could be constrained by weaknesses in the infrastructure required to power AI, cloud computing and other digital services, industry stakeholders have warned.
As demand for artificial intelligence, cloud services, digital payments and data-intensive applications accelerates across the continent, concerns are increasingly shifting from whether Africa can innovate to whether it has the infrastructure needed to support that innovation at scale.
Industry experts say reliable electricity, data centres, fibre networks, cloud infrastructure and affordable connectivity will be critical to determining how much value African economies can derive from the AI revolution.
Steven Santini, Vice President for Secure Power at Schneider Electric Sub-Saharan Africa, warned that Africa risks being left behind if infrastructure development fails to keep pace with the continent’s AI ambitions.
Speaking at the IDC CIO Summit 2026 in Johannesburg, Santini noted that global AI companies increasingly view Africa as an emerging investment frontier, with data centre developments expanding in countries including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
However, he cautioned that enthusiasm for AI investment is moving faster than the infrastructure required to sustain it.
Power Remains A Major Constraint
Energy is among the biggest challenges facing Africa’s AI ambitions.
AI systems require significant computing capacity, while the data centres that host these systems depend on reliable and high-capacity electricity. Santini pointed to the scale of power requirements associated with some hyperscale projects, noting that certain facilities being developed in the Middle East have electricity demands comparable to entire cities.
For African countries already dealing with electricity shortages, ageing grid infrastructure and unreliable supply, the challenge is particularly significant.
The problem extends beyond electricity.
Africa continues to face gaps in data centre capacity, fibre infrastructure and affordable internet connectivity. These weaknesses can increase the cost of digital services and make it more difficult for businesses to deploy advanced cloud and AI applications.
Infrastructure Must Match Local Realities
Santini also argued that Africa should not simply replicate infrastructure models designed for other markets.
Not every AI application requires enormous hyperscale facilities, meaning infrastructure solutions must be designed around the specific requirements and constraints of individual markets.
This could include decentralised energy solutions, more efficient computing infrastructure and data centres designed to operate reliably in environments where grid power remains inconsistent.
Other technology stakeholders have similarly warned that Africa’s AI development depends on closing its compute, data and connectivity gaps. The Nigerian Communications Commission, for instance, has previously identified limited computing capacity, inadequate data infrastructure and weaknesses in locally relevant AI systems as significant challenges to Africa’s AI ambitions.
Investment Must Focus On Foundations
The infrastructure challenge comes as investment in Africa’s digital backbone gathers momentum.
Nearly 900MW of additional data centre capacity was reportedly in development across Africa as of July 2026, on top of more than 500MW of operational capacity. Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Ethiopia and Morocco are among the markets attracting increasing investment.
But experts say infrastructure investment must be tied to clear economic outcomes rather than driven solely by excitement around AI.
The continent needs stronger telecommunications networks, resilient electricity systems, local data centres, cloud capacity, cybersecurity infrastructure and skilled professionals capable of operating increasingly complex digital systems.
For Nigeria and other African economies seeking to become producers rather than consumers of AI technology, the message is increasingly clear: AI innovation cannot scale without the physical and digital infrastructure behind it.
The next phase of Africa’s technology development may therefore depend as much on investments in power, connectivity and computing capacity as it does on the development of AI applications themselves.