Africa’s youth must build future of AI, not just use it

Across Africa, young people are quickly adopting artificial intelligence. In Kenya alone, more than 42 per cent of internet users reportedly use ChatGPT each month, the highest rate globally.

Yet behind this impressive uptake lies a deeper concern: most of the systems shaping their digital lives are designed far from the communities they are meant to serve.

Across the continent, the pace of adoption is striking. South Africa reports more than a third of internet users engaging with AI tools, while Nigeria has seen widespread use of AI chatbots among adults.

But then, what happens when the technologies young Africans rely on are built without reflecting their languages, cultures, or lived realities? Algorithms trained largely on Western data often struggle to interpret local languages, understand informal economies, or capture the social dynamics of daily life in African communities. As a West African proverb reminds us, “The one who has not been to the market will never know the price of fish.” Experience shapes understanding, and AI should be no different.

When digital tools mispronounce African names, fail to recognise dialects, or oversimplify complex realities, the consequences go beyond minor technical errors. They risk embedding and automating inequality. Inclusive AI built with African data, languages, and communities in mind is essential if young people are to fully benefit from technological change and exercise their rights to education, economic opportunity, and participation.

Understand context

The consequences of misaligned AI are already visible. Consider a farmer in Turkana receiving AI advice to plant crops in “spring” and “fall,” seasons that do not exist locally. Translation tools often miss the nuance of African idioms, distorting meaning. Agricultural advisory systems trained on temperate region data may recommend practices that are impractical or even harmful in local conditions. When AI fails to understand context, it fails the people who depend on it.

For many young Africans, digital literacy still begins and ends with learning how to operate a device. What is often missing in education systems is deeper knowledge: data literacy, algorithmic thinking, and an understanding of AI ethics. Yet these technologies increasingly shape everyday decisions, from access to information to job opportunities.

Without the skills to question how these systems work, evaluate their outputs, or contribute to their design, young people risk becoming passive consumers of technologies they had no role in creating.

Recruitment platforms offer a clear example. Many are built around formal labour markets and undervalue the experiences of African youth working in informal sectors. Algorithms calibrated for very different economic realities can rank applicants unfairly, not because of lack of talent, but because the system was never designed with them in mind.

Even for someone like me, with more than four decades of computing experience, navigating AI systems can sometimes feel intimidating. If that is the case for a seasoned professional, what does it mean for a 16-year-old in a rural school with limited digital exposure? The gap highlights not only unequal access to technology but also the widening divide between those who shape digital systems and those who simply use them.

Accelerate innovation

Africa is home to the world’s youngest population, with more than 420 million people under the age of 25. Artificial intelligence holds enormous potential to accelerate innovation, create jobs, and improve access to services. But access alone will not determine who benefits. Young Africans must move beyond being users of technology and become its builders, ensuring their languages, experiences, and realities shape the algorithms that will influence their futures.

To this end, education systems must integrate AI literacy, data skills, and ethics into curricula so young people understand how these technologies work and how they should be governed. Universities and innovation hubs should support youth-led development of AI tools grounded in African realities, including systems built in African languages. Young people must also have meaningful representation in policy and governance discussions that will shape the future of AI across the continent.

Collaboration between governments, civil society, the private sector, and development partners can expand funding, mentorship, and knowledge exchange for young innovators building technologies rooted in African contexts.

When designed inclusively, AI can transform livelihoods. It can expand access to microfinance for informal businesses, provide agricultural advice tailored to local conditions, personalise education pathways, and connect young people to employment opportunities that match their skills.

As the writer Chinua Achebe once said, “If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.” Africa’s youth must write the AI story of their continent.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.

Mr Ngugi is Africa Regional Director, ChildFund International. Email: Email: [email protected]