Artificial intelligence is poised to become a transformative growth driver for African economies, which will also export its own AI in the coming years, according to the head of a data infrastructure company.<\/p>\n
At\u00a0Fortune\u2019s Global Forum<\/a>\u00a0in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, Amini<\/a> founder and CEO Kate Kallot said<\/a> her company is building computing power that will enable purpose-built AI solutions for Africa.<\/p>\n The former Nvidia<\/a> executive also predicted that AI will add $2.9 trillion to Africa\u2019s economy over the next five years as governments begin to view data and computing capacity as critical infrastructure, alongside roads and hospitals. Kallot served as head of emerging areas at Nvidia before departing in 2022 to start Amini. <\/p>\n As infrastructure investments grow, governments are demanding that large language models deployed in Africa actually reflect local realities, given that nearly a billion Africans are still offline while LLMs are trained on internet data, Kallot said.<\/p>\n This new mindset of strategic partnerships has expanded from the governmental level to the private sector, and startups have emerged that will help shape the future of their countries and their economies, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing technology and AI as potentially one of the biggest equalizers that Africa has ever seen,\u201d Kallot added.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not yet reflected in the global narrative, which doesn\u2019t recognize AI innovation in Africa, she pointed out.<\/p>\n The reality is that the continent is actually a leader in developing AI that\u2019s efficient, responsible, and inclusive\u2014and the rest of the world is about to find out.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin the next five to 10 years, we\u2019re going to see African intelligence being exported in other countries across the Global South,\u201d Kallot said. <\/p>\n Changing the global narrative <\/p>\n The negative narrative about Africa is costly, according to Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, CEO of the global advocacy group One Campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n That bias has made borrowing costs for African countries more expensive, with negative reporting about the region costing an estimated $4.2 billion. But in fact, certain sectors are seeing returns as high as 10x.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re changing the narrative, and we\u2019re saying Africa is a return on investment, not a risk,\u201d she told Fortune\u2019s Diane Brady. \u201cAnd this is the time to partner with us with fair financing that delivers results and delivers jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Flipping the script is also top of mind for Boris Kodjoe, cofounder of the investment and impact platform Full Circle Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n