AI alone isn’t transformative. Real change happens when empowered people can access, trust, learn and adopt AI technology.
By Francine Katsoudes, executive vice-president and chief people, policy and purpose officer at Cisco
The most profound convergence of human potential and AI is happening in Africa, where a dynamic, young generation is positioned to drive bold innovation. In my conversations with global leaders and communities, we agree: the continent’s evolving workforce will power our tomorrow. This is the decisive moment to unlock its potential, to shape the collective future we aspire – for the African continent and beyond.
Why now?
The continent’s greatest strength lies in its people, who are leading the world in AI adoption with an entrepreneurial spirit that fuels innovation:
- 78% of Africa’s youth use AI tools weekly, outpacing peers in Europe and the US;
- 75% of Africa’s youth plan to start a business in the next five years; nearly 80% of new startups are digital-first;
- And African women are leading the way as new business owners at twice the global average.
Yet, the continent’s AI talent pool stands at only 5 000 professionals, far short of the 230-million jobs needing digital skills by 2030. Fewer than 25% of African university students pursue STEM fields, and only 30% of the higher education students in STEM are women.
Additionally, 70 000 skilled professionals leave the continent each year. The journey to full AI workforce readiness is a steep climb – but the opportunity is now to harness the AI workforce potential. Here’s how we can turn vision into meaningful, lasting impact.
Africa’s opportunity
Cisco and Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s (CMU-Africa) recently released the report “AI and the Workforce in Africa: Realizing the Region’s Potential Through Public and Private Sector Collaboration”. The paper gives a clear view of the African continent’s AI readiness, looking at both the infrastructure and the skills needed to make it happen.
For Africa, this is a first – bringing AI, policy, economic modelling, and practical workforce solutions into one integrated roadmap. It shows AI adoption and workforce growth must advance together, to shape the digital future across the continent and the global stage.
Most importantly, it changes the narrative. Africa is not just a passive receiver of AI but is poised to leapfrog into AI leadership.
But only if it invests strategically in its people as evidenced in the report:
- By 2030, 75% of Africans will be under 35, accounting for 42% of the world’s youth.
- By 2050 the continent is expected to host one-quarter of the world’s working-age population.
- AI adoption is poised to boost Africa’s economy by USD 2.9 trillion by 2030 with high-impact sectors like agriculture, finance, and the large informal economy primed for substantial gains.
- The latest AI Readiness Rankings for African Countries, highlight a widening but actionable gap across the continent.
This vision is also one of the shared responsibility for governments, industries and civil societies. Together, it is a call to unite in purposeful, collective action to scale digital and physical infrastructure, build a resilient AI-ready workforce, and drive innovation for sustainable growth.
To fully activate AI’s potential for the continental economy, the report presents phased policy recommendations across:
- Short-term: Such as on-the-job learning incentives to create a strong link between education, hands-on training, and actual work demands – like in Germany, where youth unemployment is just 6.6%.
- Medium-term: For instance, integrating AI and digital skills into the national curricula at all educational levels – beyond coding to include ethics, cultural context, and domain-specific applications.
- Long-term: Like accelerating infrastructure modernization via data embassy partnerships; like Estonia’s data embassy in Luxembourg, which secures key government systems under diplomatic protections.
The Cisco and CMU-Africa study reinforces that this moment is not just about the African continent, but about our shared global future. An AI blueprint which is designed for all to get access to participate in the AI economy. Investing in these foundations today will empower future generations to just follow AI-enabled change but lead it.
Enabling AI-ready learning and skills
At Cisco, we’re grateful to play a part in this collective journey. Closing Africa’s skills gap begins with something deeply human: fostering a learning culture that empowers people to use, shape, lead, and responsibly guide technology.
Learning AI is also about unlocking human potential in service of a more inclusive world. Through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) initiatives and partnerships across the continent, we remain committed to supporting its AI transformation. Below are a few highlights from this ongoing work, a hopeful reminder that meaningful progress is happening.
- Cisco learning programs have already reached 1,8-million Africans.
- Cisco Networking Academy has empowered 1,6-million learners, including over 500 000 women.
- Cisco’s partner the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Code Club engages 3-million young people annually, with a strong focus on female participation.
- Through the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, we continue to identify and support promising young African entrepreneurs with training, mentorship, funding, and access to markets.
- As co-host of the ITU Digital Transformation Centers (DTCs) initiative, with eight centers across Africa we have trained thousands in basic and intermediate digital skills.
- We launched a Secure Access data centre region in Cape Town, helping strengthen digital infrastructure.
And looking forward, we’ve launched a $1-billion global AI investment fund, designed to accelerate the development of secure, trusted AI. This includes a focus on startups in healthcare, finance, and energy to help innovators scale with not just capital, but Cisco’s global network and technical expertise.