What role will private equity play in Africa’s AI future?

A bold vision emerged at the recent Global AI Summit in Kigali, Rwanda: Africa is not preparing for the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution – it is actively building it.

From deep tech labs in Lagos, Nigeria, to agricultural bots in Lilongwe, Malawi, the continent is producing breakthroughs rooted in local realities and global relevance. But ideas alone won’t shape the future; capital will.

To unlock Africa’s AI potential, private equity must evolve from an engine of extraction to a force of progress.

Across the continent, AI is already being used and advanced in meaningful ways:

Yet for every startup that breaks through, dozens stall at the seed or growth stage – not due to lack of innovation but from a chronic capital mismatch. The African AI ecosystem is dynamic, but the funding landscape remains underdeveloped, fragmented and often ill-suited to deep tech’s unique timelines and risk profiles.

Traditional private equity models – built around short exit horizons and aggressive buyouts – don’t fit here. Africa needs a reimagined form of private equity: patient, ethical and rooted in long-term value creation.

Historically, capital in Africa has been extractive, prioritizing rapid returns over systems-building. However, as AI begins to power critical sectors – healthcare, agriculture, education and public infrastructure – the cost of short-termism is too high.

A new private equity model must take root, guided by three principles:

1. Preserve local ownership through preferred equity or revenue-based finance – not just majority acquisitions.

2. Back African-led ventures solving real problems – not just retrofitting foreign models.

3. This is not about charity; it’s about resilience. Private equity firms that invest with this lens will unlock outsized returns – not just financial but societal, technological and reputational.

The proposed $60 billion Africa AI Fund, announced in Kigali, is more than a financial tool – it’s a blueprint for co-creation. It brings together public, private and philanthropic capital to de-risk early-stage ventures and build the infrastructure Africa’s AI sector needs.

This opens the door for private equity to: invest earlier, sharing risk and reward with catalytic partners; shape infrastructure, from open data platforms to secure cloud systems; and build ecosystems, not just portfolios – fostering talent, trust and technological sovereignty.

Blended finance isn’t a concession; it’s how 21st-century capital works in frontier markets: combining commercial discipline with structural empathy.

The results of this blended approach have already been seen.

In Malawi, Opportunity International launched “Ulangizi,” an AI-powered chatbot that provides farming advice in Chichewa. Their incubator-backed solutions in education and agriculture with $150,000 grants per venture.

Microsoft pledged $300 million for AI infrastructure in South Africa and will subsidize certification exams for 50,000 individuals, deepening local AI capacity.

Google has committed $5.8 million to AI skilling across Sub-Saharan Africa, investing in the continent’s people.

Between 2022 and 2023 alone, 103 AI-related VC deals totalling $641 million were completed across Africa, according to a private capital industry body AVCA. But this is still just 0.3% of the $184 billion in projected global AI investments for 2025. Africa’s share of the future is not guaranteed. It must, therefore, be claimed.

Africa doesn’t need to clone Silicon Valley. It can architect its own model where AI tools are multilingual, community-owned and designed with cultural nuance in mind.

But innovation can’t run ahead of investment forever. The bottleneck isn’t talent or vision, it is capital that’s fit for purpose.

This is where visionary private equity firms can make the difference – by building bridges rather than chasing unicorns – between frontier innovation and scalable infrastructure and between purpose and profit.

The future of AI in Africa won’t be decided by code alone. It will be shaped by who funds it, how they fund it and what they expect in return.

If private equity is willing to evolve to prioritize patient capital over predatory deals, founder agency over control and ecosystems over individual exits then it won’t just finance Africa’s AI transformation — it will help define what ethical, inclusive, future-proof investing looks like on a global stage.

The question isn’t whether to support Africa’s AI future – it’s how. Will we watch from the sidelines or be part of building something transformative?

Real impact comes from investing early, committing for the long term and sharing power. That’s how we create an AI future for Africa with Africa.