On the eve of Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, Huawei and the African Telecommunications Union co-hosted a Ministerial Forum focused on the continent’s readiness for artificial intelligence and the infrastructure required to scale it.
Speaking at the opening session, Hover Gao, Huawei’s president for Sub-Saharan Africa, said African nations are standing at a critical moment in the global shift toward AI. He outlined three persistent constraints that continue to slow progress across the continent. These include insufficient AI computing power, a shortage of high-quality and accessible data, and a lack of skilled talent to build and deploy advanced systems.
Gao said Huawei is committed to working closely with African governments to address these gaps and advance practical solutions that reflect regional needs. A major priority, he added, is the development of localised AI models that incorporate African languages, cultural knowledge, regulatory contexts, and sector-specific data.
“Africa is rich in diversity. Global models must be further trained with African data if AI is to serve the continent effectively,” Gao said. “Only then can AI empower local industries and reflect Africa’s unique social and economic realities.”
Gao outlined two advantages of building national foundation models. First, localisation supports AI sovereignty by reducing dependence on foreign systems and minimising structural bias embedded in global datasets. Second, governments and industries would no longer need to train foundation models from scratch, but instead fine-tune national models with local sector data. He said this approach will reduce costs, improve efficiency, and accelerate digital transformation.
Gao added that strengthening regional collaboration and sharing best practices will be essential for ensuring that Africa can leapfrog into the AI era. “Huawei stands ready to partner with governments and industry to pursue a shared vision of Africa’s intelligent future,” he said.
With the continent’s AI challenges now clearly defined, attention will turn to how quickly African governments, including South Africa, can develop and deploy their own localised AI foundation models to support inclusive growth and competitiveness.
