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Africa's struggle in the global Al race: Addressing the digital divide

The Mercury

|

July 01, 2025

AFRICA IS lagging far behind in the global AI race. This does not come as a surprise, however, it has now been confirmed and revealed in an Oxford University report titled, AI Compute Sovereignty Infrastructure Control Across Territories, Cloud Providers, and Accelerators”.

- WESLEY.INTEL

Africa's struggle in the global Al race: Addressing the digital divide

The report mapped where AI data centres are located. It claims that artificial intelligence has fractured the world between nations with the computing power for building cutting edge Al systems and those without. The report indicates that only 32 countries, or about 16% of nations, have large facilities filled with microchips and computers, which gives them “computer power”.

This revelation should serve as a wake up call to those who care about the sovereignty of different nations. It seems those who should act are more concerned about the appearance of advancement in the AI race.

In Africa what we've seen so far is the continuation of what has happened in the past. Africa has just served as a shop front of tech giants and local leaders have been excited about selling global tech to locals.

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