Africa’s race into artificial intelligence risks becoming another technology adoption story without the economic transformation the continent needs unless governments and investors first fix the infrastructure beneath it, according to Kemi Olajide, principal at Africa Climate Ventures.
Olajide said Africa’s next major investment opportunity is unlikely to be a single sector replacing fintech. Instead, it will emerge where AI, energy, digital infrastructure and productive industries intersect.
Her warning comes as investment in African technology begins to broaden beyond fintech. African tech startups raised $4.1 billion in equity and debt funding in 2025, with cleantech emerging as a major beneficiary. Fintech remained the largest sector, attracting $1.49 billion, while cleantech funding almost doubled to $1.18 billion.
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The shift matters because AI requires far more than software engineers and startups. It needs reliable electricity, fibre networks, data centres, cloud capacity, digital identity, cybersecurity and a workforce capable of operating increasingly complex systems.
