Synthetic Intelligence (AI) dominated the agenda at this yr’s of GITEX World on the Dubai World Commerce Centre. Organisers say this yr’s gathering drew file participation, together with greater than 6,800 exhibitors, 2,000 startups, and 1,200 buyers from 180 nations.
Among the many most anticipated classes was a joint look by OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman (pictured), who joined nearly, and Peng Xiao, Group CEO of Abu Dhabi-based G42, who took to the principle stage in entrance of capability crowds. The organisations that the 2 tech leaders head are each on the forefront of the worldwide AI revolution. They’re additionally companions within the UAE’s most formidable AI infrastructure initiative but: Stargate UAE. This can be a deliberate 5 GW AI supercomputing campus in Abu Dhabi that shall be among the many world’s largest when full.
G42 introduced throughout GITEX that the primary 200 megawatts of capability for Stargate UAE are anticipated to return on-line in 2026. The undertaking’s first part is being developed in partnership with OpenAI, Nvidia, Cisco, Oracle, and Japan’s SoftBank. It’s a part of the UAE’s bid to diversify its oil-based financial system and entice investments in tech and AI, leveraging its shut US ties to entry superior American applied sciences.
Reflecting on the UAE’s emergence as a worldwide AI chief, Altman and Xiao mentioned how nations around the globe can transfer from being early adopters of AI to what they described as “AI-native societies”.
Make AI a prime three authorities agenda
“In my thoughts there are 4 main elements for a nation to achieve being AI native. You will need to have a powerful political management. The push should come from the highest down; it must be a prime three, possibly even prime one precedence, for the federal government agenda,” Xiao stated.
“You must educate your inhabitants, your entire society, to embrace AI. Infrastructure is essential… Sam and his workforce determined again in Could this yr to make UAE the primary worldwide web site for Stargate improvement. The fourth issue for achievement is international partnership,” Xiao continued.
Altman stated the UAE’s ascendancy on the worldwide tech scene affords different nations a roadmap for profitable AI adoption. “We expect each nation goes to want to have an AI technique, and it’s acquired to be a prime precedence for the nationwide management. The management of the UAE on this has been unimaginable to see. I hope that it might probably serve for example for the remainder of the world about what it appears to be like like for a ahead considering nation to actually embrace AI and say ‘that is going to be an essential a part of our future’,” he stated.
Altman’s name for nations to craft nationwide AI methods has been properly heeded in Africa. Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Zambia and Mauritania revealed frameworks on their nationwide AI methods in 2024, whereas Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, Lesotho and Tanzania adopted in 2025 with their very own plans or drafts. In whole, not less than fifteen nations now have nationwide AI methods, along with two continental frameworks.
Regardless of the sturdy initiative and palpable ambition, investments in AI in Africa proceed to path different areas by a substantial margin. The continent hosts lower than 1% of the world’s knowledge centres, and solely round 3% of world AI expertise relies in Africa. With out an uptick in investments, specialists worry that AI dangers changing into one other imported know-how to which Africa should adapt – relatively than a discipline by which the continent actively contributes, innovates and leads.
Selling fluency in AI
Philip Thigo, Kenya’s particular envoy on know-how, argues that to draw AI investments to their nations, “leaders should be fluent round AI”. There’s nonetheless a information hole that have to be bridged, he contends.
“The primary mistake is that individuals (in African governments) suppose AI is an ICT problem. It’s not. It’s a whole-of-government problem. Numerous African nations negotiating on this problem went from an ICT perspective, which solely centered on the purposes … you then overlook there’s an infrastructure piece, an vitality bit, a expertise and skilling bit. There are additionally the geopolitical points and the resourcing and finance bits,” he tells African Enterprise on the sidelines of GITEX.
“The second problem is knowing the place you’re within the AI worth chain as a result of not everybody can have knowledge centres. Individuals need knowledge centres then realise ‘you don’t have the vitality, you don’t have the water for cooling …. You must perceive the place you’re and the place your benefit is,” Thigo notes.
He says that Kenya is coaching civil servants to raised perceive AI and its purposes, arguing that this must be normal observe for any authorities eager on attracting investments in AI. “When it comes to public sector coaching and skilling, there’s a centre of excellence on the Kenya Faculty of Authorities. They’ve already educated 7000 civil servants over the previous yr. We did this in partnership with the UNDP (UN Improvement Programme) and need to scale it.”
Safeguarding African sovereignty
Thigo says that international companions like Microsoft, Oracle and G42, amongst others, are serving to Kenya construct out its AI infrastructure. Nonetheless, whereas international partnerships stay important to overcoming useful resource constraints, he insists that Africa should concurrently put money into its personal AI infrastructure to keep away from long-term dependency.
“The largest threat for me is that if we don’t construct it ourselves… how will we get nations within the continent to be builders and never simply customers of AI. It’s harmful when another person determines the way you eat information, the way you produce information, and the way your information is perceived,” he says.
Thigo contends that public-private-partnerships (PPPs) might assist Africa overcome monetary constraints in its quest to construct its personal AI infrastructure. “We need to get the African non-public sector to step up. It’ll be crucial that Africa doesn’t construct AI on loans, as a result of if somebody takes your knowledge centres as collateral your sovereignty is gone. Knowledge centres we’ve to do on our personal.”
Averting the chance of an ‘AI divide’
AI adoption in lots of superior economies is rising at a blistering tempo, creating the chance of an “AI divide” that leaves poorer economies on the continent in a perennial recreation of catch up.
“AI has gone from one thing folks performed with to one thing folks construct with,” Altman stated, revealing that ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot, had surpassed 800m energetic weekly customers in October.
“We’re nonetheless pretty early in that journey and we are going to see folks doing actually exceptional issues within the coming one or two years. The very best factor we will do to make sure we don’t have an AI divide is to make AI accessible and low-cost, to show folks find out how to use it, to have each nation embrace it,” he famous.
Grand ambition is equally vital for achievement, Xiao argued. International locations that need to lead on AI should dare to dream huge.
“As we speak concerning the future success of AI, the best failure as we speak would be the failure of ambition. We’ve got to suppose greater, with a brand new paradigm. This isn’t simply one other evolutionary step, it requires a mindset shift.”
