This session aims to unpack the anticipated impact of AI on Africa’s future job creation. By bringing together different perspectives, the session aims to enhance understanding on Africa’s readiness for AI, to consider AI’s potential job creation and employment structure impacts and explore what Africa is doing to maximise the benefits of AI in generating quality, sustainable livelihoods. The session targets policymakers, the academic and research community, INGOs and innovators.  

Objectives:

✅Enhance understanding Africa’s readiness with regards to AI. 

✅Take stock of Africa’s role in AI development for Job Creation. 

✅Map job creating AI-use cases in Africa. 

✅Map an action plan for Africa to actively engage and contribute to the AI industrial revolution.

Speakers' Key Insights

Tamiwe Kayuni – Moderator

“We need grounded, evidence‑based dialogue to understand how AI will reshape labour markets and what policies can guide this transition, while ensuring our focus remains on practical, context‑aware solutions that work for African realities.”

Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, IDEP Director – Opening & Closing

“Africa is building an emerging AI ecosystem, but unlocking its full potential requires bold investment in infrastructure, research, and human capacity, alongside a mindset shift among leaders who must see AI not merely as a tool but as a strategic enabler of development, while the ECA remains committed to supporting countries in crafting strong AI strategies, governance frameworks, and research capacity, recognizing that AI development is a continuous journey that demands collaboration, dialogue, and concrete action.”

Camila Talam – Presenter

“AI is Africa’s fourth industrial revolution, with the potential to add up to 3% economic growth if the continent invests in infrastructure, skills, and frugal, context‑appropriate innovations in key sectors, but with only a few countries currently ‘AI‑ready,’ closing the readiness gap is vital to ensure AI creates opportunities—boosting productivity and transforming SMEs—while managing the risks of routine job displacement.”

Jake Kendall – Panelist

“Africa should double down on sectors where it already has strength, as strategic, targeted investments will outperform broad ecosystem spending, with AI‑enabled service industries positioning the continent as a competitive exporter that creates sustainable jobs and new growth pathways—an outcome that depends on precise, data‑driven support rather than wide but shallow investments.”

Dee Allen – Panelist

“Skills development—especially in STEM and digital literacy—is the cornerstone of inclusive AI adoption, and expanding digital infrastructure is essential to ensure AI benefits all communities; at the same time, countries must develop sovereign AI strategies that support locally grounded solutions, and provide SMEs with grants and training to create new jobs and ensure AI benefits reach marginalized groups.”

Professor Fola Adeleke – Panelist

“Africa’s biggest AI challenges—data access, quality, governance, and privacy—require strong legal frameworks such as privacy laws, IP protections, and data‑sharing protocols, along with local‑language AI models to ensure inclusion, and recognition and protection of data workers with gender equity at the center of AI‑related work.”

FULL STORY HERE