The East African Community (EAC) has taken a significant step toward shaping Africa’s artificial intelligence future by adopting a declaration to establish a Regional AI Technologies Fund. This move signals a coordinated effort among Partner States to build a shared foundation for AI development across the region.
The initiative comes alongside Uganda’s ambitious push to host Africa’s first AI “factory,” while continental institutions such as the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and UNDP are mobilising large-scale funding. Their joint US$10 billion initiative aims to accelerate AI adoption across Africa and unlock up to 40 million jobs by 2035.
At the core of the EAC strategy is the proposed Regional AI Fund, designed to blend public and private capital to scale homegrown innovations into commercially viable solutions. The focus is on addressing a critical gap in Africa’s technology ecosystem, the lack of sustained financing to move AI innovations from pilot stage to market readiness.
A strong emphasis is also being placed on “AI sovereignty,” with regional leaders prioritising locally developed systems, African language integration, and infrastructure hosted within the continent. This approach aims to reduce reliance on external systems, where the majority of Africa’s data is currently processed offshore.
Uganda is already translating this vision into action through the Aeonian Project, a 100MW hyperscale AI facility being developed at the Karuma Hydropower Plant. Supported by global and African partners, including NVIDIA, the facility is expected to operate on renewable energy and strengthen Africa’s capacity to retain and process its own data.
Together, these developments reflect a coordinated shift toward building Africa’s AI backbone, combining policy alignment, infrastructure investment, and large-scale financing. With the AfDB warning that 2025–2027 is a critical “ignition window,” the region’s strategic choices during this period could shape its long-term position in the global AI economy.
