OpenAI, ALX, and AFTS Convene AI Leadership Forum in Addis Ababa: Talent, Infrastructure, Opportunity
OpenAI, ALX, and the Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) are convening a high-level AI Leadership Forum in Addis Ababa at the ALX Capstone Tech Hub in Lideta, timed with the African Union Summit Week. The goal: move Africa's AI agenda from talk to execution, bringing policymakers, business leaders, technologists, start-ups, and educators into the same room.
The organizers are clear-AI has shifted from an emerging technology to core infrastructure. The question for leaders is no longer "if" AI will be adopted, but whether their institutions are ready to build, govern, and capture value from it.
They also point to a demographic edge. With the continent's young population entering an AI-first job market, early alignment of skills, infrastructure, and policy will define which countries-and which companies-lead.
Strategic context: Africa's AI playbook is forming
The forum is timed with the African Union's Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy, endorsed by the AU Executive Council. The Africa-centric framework-focused on "AI for Africa's Development and Prosperity"-positions AI as a key lever for Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Maximize socio-economic gains in agriculture, health, and education.
- Build continental capabilities in talent, infrastructure, data, and compute.
- Minimize risks around ethics, bias, privacy, security, and misuse.
- Stimulate public and private investment in African AI ecosystems.
- Foster regional and international cooperation for adoption at scale.
Since its endorsement in July 2024, at least 15 countries-including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, and Namibia-have published national AI strategies. Common threads: ethical governance, talent development, and sector-focused applications to drive inclusive growth.
Inside the Addis forum: from vision to deployment
The program features a keynote and fireside chat with Emmanuel Lubanzadio, Africa Lead at OpenAI, on turning AI leadership into practical pathways for adoption, capacity building, infrastructure, and policy across African markets. Lubanzadio noted OpenAI's commitment to the continent, referencing the OpenAI Academy launched in Lagos last year: "Africa is home to some of the world's most creative, resourceful problem-solvers. We want to ensure they have the tools to turn ideas into impact and that AI reflects African voices and priorities."
The event theme-"Talent, Infrastructure, and Opportunity in Africa"-will focus on four pillars:
- Africa's role in the global AI context.
- Talent, language, and cultural representation in AI systems.
- Compute, energy, data, and infrastructure as long-term advantages.
- Policy, regulation, and readiness for an AI-first decade.
ALX, known for preparing young Africans for digital careers, is pushing for early and deliberate investment in talent. Mirafe Gebriel Marcos, Country Manager for Ethiopia at Sand Technologies (ALX), said, "Our goal is to prepare learners not just to use AI, but to build, apply, and govern it."
For AFTS, AI ties directly to inclusion and competitiveness. Co-founder Zekarias Amsalu called for "triple action" that connects infrastructure investment, smart regulation, and trust-building-especially to address the underrepresentation of African perspectives in AI design. Organizers compare AI's potential to the mobile money playbook: locally grounded solutions with global relevance.
What executives should do now
- Workforce strategy: fund AI upskilling tied to real roles and local languages; pair technical training with domain expertise.
- Infrastructure bets: secure access to compute and energy; explore regional data centers, cloud partnerships, and shared data initiatives.
- Governance: adopt clear policies on data, privacy, security, and bias audits; align with national strategies to de-risk deployment.
- Product strategy: prioritize local problem statements (agri, health, education, finance); build multilingual and culturally aware AI.
- Capital allocation: co-invest with public sector and DFIs; use consortia and pilots to validate ROI before scaling.
- Ecosystem: back start-ups and universities; fund internships, scholarships, and public-private training pipelines.
Participation
Policymakers, educators, and builders can apply to attend through the Africa Fintech Summit platform, with both in-person and virtual options available.
If you're planning structured upskilling for teams, explore role-based AI learning paths here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
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