Harnessing AI for Africa

Welcome to Institute Insights, where TBI experts bring to life our work enabling political leaders to drive change that transforms lives.

In this edition, Senior Policy Advisor Hilda Barasa explores how artificial intelligence can help reimagine governance in Africa, and Managing Director for Africa Nzioka Waita makes the case for a bold new approach to Africa’s debt crisis, proposing a practical initiative to unlock investment and break the cycle of high-risk borrowing.

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Governing in the Age of AI: Unlocking a New Era of Transformation in Africa

Traditional development models are no longer enough for African countries grappling with rapidly growing populations, rising demand for jobs and better services, and the urgent need for inclusive growth. Governments must do more with less and do it faster.

Artificial intelligence offers a historic opportunity to tackle these challenges head-on. But governing in the age of AI isn’t just about adopting cutting-edge technology – it’s about reimagining how governments work and how they deliver for their citizens.

For African governments, AI could be the most powerful tool to accelerate development, transform governance and unlock economic potential. In our newly published paper, Governing in the Age of AI: Unlocking a New Era of Transformation in Africa, TBI sets out how AI can help African countries overcome long-standing structural barriers – capacity deficits, information asymmetries and fragmented institutions – to strengthen governance and improve people’s lives.

To unlock AI’s full potential, African leaders must adopt a dual-track strategy. In the short term, governments should focus on deploying AI where it will have the most impact, such as enhancing health-care systems, improving education delivery and optimising public services. Early wins will help build public trust while demonstrating tangible results. In the long term, countries must invest in the foundational systems required for sustainable AI adoption. This means building infrastructure, cultivating local AI talent, and developing national AI strategies that set clear priorities and measurable goals.

There are already promising signs across the continent. Early use cases in health care, education, agriculture and public administration in countries such as Rwanda, Ghana and Kenya demonstrate Africa’s readiness to innovate and commitment to harnessing AI for tangible, sector-specific outcomes.

Yet significant barriers remain. Fiscal constraints, competing development priorities and limited technical expertise continue to hinder progress. For many African governments, adopting AI under fiscal pressures and competing priorities will require pragmatic trade-offs.

Yet AI should be seen as a force multiplier – enhancing efficiency, optimising resource allocation and accelerating innovation to deliver transformative outcomes at scale. Rather than an additional expense, AI represents a strategic investment that can amplify the impact of existing development spending, ensuring greater returns from limited resources.

To address the financing challenge, our paper proposes an AI-Financing Compact for Africa – a structured framework that aligns AI investments with national development priorities and concessional financing. By tying AI investments to measurable outcomes and performance-based funding mechanisms, the compact can provide lenders with greater confidence while enabling governments with lower upfront costs through familiar financial tools. This approach ensures that AI adoption becomes a catalyst for growth and innovation, rather than a financial burden.

AI’s potential to enhance governance, economic growth and service delivery in Africa is undeniable. But realising that potential requires bold leadership, strategic investment and a commitment to making AI a core pillar of Africa’s development agenda. In a world increasingly shaped by AI, the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of adoption. Governments that act now will shape the industries and economies of tomorrow. Those that hesitate risk deepening dependency and missing out on AI’s transformative potential.

A New Debt Deal for Africa: Breaking the Vicious Cycle

The deep aid cuts announced by the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries mark the end of the traditional donor-funded bilateral-aid era – but innovative finance can shape a sustainable path forward. With South Africa chairing the G20, African leaders have a critical opportunity to tackle Africa’s debt crisis. 

Across the continent, African governments face a difficult paradox. On the one hand, they need to invest in growth through infrastructure, education and digital transformation. On the other hand, the cost of borrowing makes it nearly impossible.  

Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratios remain lower than those in the G7. Yet many countries are paying double-digit interest rates, far above what their G7 counterparts pay. In some cases, debt servicing now consumes more than health-care expenditure.  

There is a vicious cycle at the heart of the problem. African nations are seen as high-risk borrowers, so lenders demand higher interest. That makes it harder for countries to invest, hurting growth and reinforcing the perception of risk, leading to even higher interest rates. Paying near double-digit interest rates or 20 per cent of your revenue on interest expenses is not sustainable for a government. Nor is it profitable for private-sector investors to pay these high interest rates. 

This isn’t sustainable, nor is it inevitable. In A New Debt Deal for Africa: Breaking the Vicious Cycle, we call for a bold new plan that reshapes the global financial system’s approach to debt, providing the breathing room that could catalyse African growth.  

This initiative substitutes high-interest debt with lower-cost financing, set in motion by tangible improvements in public financial management and governance. A New Debt Deal, built on five pillars – credible fiscal targets, strengthened domestic-revenue mobilisation, efficient public spending, realistic investment strategies and innovative financial tools – can dismantle the negative risk-perception cycle. 

The impacts of these changes would be felt beyond Africa. High debt costs lead to stagnation, fuel instability, increase migration pressures and threaten democratic legitimacy. Addressing them is in everyone’s interest.  

This is not a call for aid. It’s a call for fairness. African countries that are doing their part shouldn’t have to contend with a system tilted against them.  

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We’re Hiring in Togo

The government of Togo is leading an ambitious digital-transformation agenda, harnessing technology to diversify the economy, enhance public-service delivery, and establish the country as a regional hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.

We’re searching for experts to join our team in Togo, working alongside the Ministère de l'Économie Numérique et de la Transformation Digitale, Togo:

• Director, National Innovation Agency

• Senior Advisor, Digital & Tech Transformation

• Manager, Digital Payments

• Manager, Geoportal

• Manager, High-Speed Broadband Connectivity

• Manager, Online Education Platform

• Manager, Partnerships

• Manager, Port Community System

• Manager, Regional Innovation Pod

• Manager, Strategic Communications

The candidates will support the design, execution and scaling of high-impact digital-transformation initiatives, and provide expertise in strategic advisory, policy development, project implementation, stakeholder engagement and technology-driven innovation across critical sectors.

Find out more about each role and apply now: https://bit.ly/48xbBye

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