The race to position Africa as a destination for artificial intelligence investment is accelerating, but the continent risks being left behind unless it confronts a fundamental constraint: it does not yet have the infrastructure to support the technology it is being asked to host.
That was the stark message delivered by Steven Santini, vice president for secure power at Schneider Electric Sub-Saharan Africa, speaking this week at the IDC CIO Summit 2026 in Johannesburg, one of the region’s most prominent gatherings of senior technology decision-makers.
“Global AI players increasingly view Africa as the next frontier the new gold rush, in many respects,” Santini told delegates at the Sandton Convention Centre. “We have the land, the resources, and the growth potential. Data centres are being developed across Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and other regions where investment is welcomed.”
Yet the enthusiasm, he cautioned, is outpacing the groundwork.
Power is the central problem. As AI workloads grow in computational intensity, so do the energy demands of the facilities that run them. Santini drew a stark comparison to illustrate the scale of what is coming. “Some of the projects we are involved with in the Middle East have power requirements comparable to entire cities,” he said. Against that backdrop, Africa’s persistent energy supply challenges take on new strategic weight.
