Africa’s $10 Billion AI Push Moves Towards Delivery With Jobs and Growth at Its Heart

Co-designed by the Bank, UNDP and private sector partners, the initiative proposes bringing together $1 billion a year over the next decade, with the potential to contribute to 25 million new jobs by 2035.

Africa's push to turn artificial intelligence into jobs and stronger businesses is moving into delivery, following a United Nations Development Programme delegation's visit to the African Development Bank Group. The meeting focused on taking the AI 10 Billion Initiative from its launch commitments to practical work in participating countries.

Co-designed by the Bank, UNDP and private sector partners, the initiative proposes bringing together $1 billion a year over the next decade, with the potential to contribute to 25 million new jobs by 2035. The task now is to identify where that investment can improve productivity and prepare projects that investors can finance.

From Nairobi's Launch to Work on the Ground

The visit follows the initiative's launch at the Nairobi AI Forum in February 2026 and builds on the ongoing Africa Accelerator for Digital Public Infrastructure, known as AA4DPI.

Keyzom Ngodup Massally, Director of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, led the delegation from UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa, alongside representatives of its Platform for Investment and Technical Assistance, or PISTA.

The Bank and UNDP plan to start in five countries and expand to 20 by the end of 2027. That rollout gives the partnership a timetable for turning a continent-wide proposal into country-level investment programmes.

A Growing Workforce Raises the Stakes

More than 300 million young Africans are expected to reach working age within ten years, making the connection between technology, productivity and employment central to the initiative.

The Bank's 2025 report, Africa's AI Productivity Gain, projects that inclusive AI adoption could add up to $1 trillion to the continent's GDP by 2035. Agriculture, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, finance and health account for 58% of that potential gain—sectors closely connected to how people earn a living and access everyday services.

These projections describe what broader AI adoption could deliver across Africa; they are not guaranteed returns from the AI 10 Billion Initiative itself. Their importance lies in showing where investment could make a substantial difference to economic activity and people's prospects.

Bringing Finance Behind Practical Needs

AI adoption depends on energy, data and people with the skills to use it. Governments, development finance institutions and private investors already hold capital that could support those foundations, but the partnership's challenge is to bring that money behind shared priorities and projects ready for investment.

The African Development Bank brings financing, research and relationships with its 54 regional member countries. UNDP contributes its country presence and technical expertise through the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, which also counts the Bank among its members.

Solomon Quaynor, the Bank's Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, placed productivity at the centre of the effort, explaining that public and private investment should help turn AI's potential into stronger competitiveness, employment and inclusive growth.

How Countries Will Turn Priorities Into Projects

Each participating country will follow three stages, beginning with a single country analysis to identify opportunities for productivity improvements. That assessment will guide the selection and preparation of public and private projects until they are ready for financing.

A partnership investment platform will bring governments, investors and regional economic communities together around those opportunities, connecting country priorities with the institutions and businesses capable of supporting them.

The Bank and UNDP are inviting governments, development finance institutions, private investors and philanthropies to join. As the programme expands, its progress will be measured through the projects it prepares, the financing those projects attract and the benefits they bring to businesses and workers.