{"id":21038,"date":"2025-12-13T15:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/african-development-bank-maps-ai-roadmap-to-unlock-up-to-1-trillion-for-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:32:11","slug":"african-development-bank-maps-ai-roadmap-to-unlock-up-to-1-trillion-for-africa","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/african-development-bank-maps-ai-roadmap-to-unlock-up-to-1-trillion-for-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"African Development Bank maps AI roadmap to unlock up to $1 trillion for Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The report, titled <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Africa\u2019s AI productivity gain: pathways to labour efficiency, economic growth and inclusive transformation<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, was developed under the G20 Digital Transformation Working Group and produced by consulting firm Bazara Tech. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It highlights AI as a major catalyst for development, job creation and productivity growth on the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to the study, the projected gains are equivalent to nearly one-third of Africa\u2019s current economic output. The potential is driven by the continent\u2019s young population, expanding digital infrastructure and ongoing reforms across key sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rather than being evenly distributed, the report finds that AI-driven growth is likely to be concentrated in a handful of high-impact sectors. Agriculture is expected to account for 20% of total gains, followed by wholesale and retail at 14%, manufacturing and Industry 4.0 at 9%, finance and financial inclusion at 8%, and health and life sciences at 7%. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Together, these five sectors could generate about $580 billion by 2035.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Bank said the scale of the opportunity now requires decisive implementation. Nicholas Williams, Manager of the ICT Operations Division at the African Development Bank, noted that the institution is ready to deploy investment to support priority actions identified in the report, calling on governments and the private sector to translate strategy into measurable productivity gains and quality jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The report identifies five critical enablers for successful AI deployment: data, compute infrastructure, skills, trust and capital. It stresses that reliable data systems, scalable computing power and a skilled workforce are essential, alongside strong governance and regulatory frameworks to build trust. Adequate capital, the study adds, is needed to de-risk innovation and accelerate adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A three-phase roadmap is proposed, covering ignition between 2025 and 2027, consolidation from 2028 to 2031, and large-scale deployment from 2032 to 2035.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ousmane Fall, Director of Industrial and Trade Development at the African Development Bank, said Africa\u2019s focus must now shift from planning to timely execution, warning that delays could undermine the continent\u2019s opportunity to lead in AI-driven development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8211;AfDB\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13997,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-21038","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Development Bank has released a new report outlining a strategic roadmap to unlock the economic and social potential of artificial intelligence across Africa, estimating that inclusive artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could generate up to $1 trillion in additional GDP by 2035.","published_date":null,"news_description":"The African Development Bank has released a new report outlining a strategic roadmap to unlock the economic and social potential of artificial intelligence across Africa, estimating that inclusive artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could generate up to $1 trillion in additional GDP by 2035.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24856,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/21038\/revisions\/24856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=21038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}