As China and the United States compete to shape the future of artificial intelligence, Africa’s rapidly expanding digital landscape is emerging as a new arena for their rivalry, far from the technology hubs of Silicon Valley or Shenzhen.

With a growing population, expanding internet access and linguistic diversity, Africa is increasingly seen as a critical region for AI development, according to analysts. Early infrastructure and platform decisions can shape the future of emerging technology markets, making Africa key to the next phase of global AI adoption.

“The African continent is actually the place for the most economic growth in the future, just purely based on the demographics,” said Alice Chen, a former fellow at Georgetown University’s Tech & Society initiative.

While China remains deeply entrenched on the continent through the Belt and Road Initiative, recent investments from US technology companies and fresh government programmes show America is sharpening its focus.

An adoption gap is driving the interest in Africa. According to a Microsoft report, 24.7 per cent of people in the Global North use AI, compared with 14.1 per cent in the Global South – a group that includes Africa. By 2050, one in four of the world’s population will be African, and for China and the US, the continent is one of the world’s largest digital frontiers where choices remain fluid.

“There is really a lot of appetite for new technology, and there are reports showing that Africans are extremely tech-savvy,” Chen said, adding that “there’s a huge spike in the growth of use of things like ChatGPT amongst young people there”.