Uganda, the East African Community (EAC), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have launched coordinated efforts to strengthen Africa’s artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, aimed at reducing reliance on foreign digital systems and building a more self-sustaining regional technology base.
The initiative focuses on developing a continentally owned AI ecosystem supported by local data infrastructure, shared financing mechanisms, and regional policy coordination. Uganda is expected to play a central role, with plans underway to host an “AI factory” designed to expand computing capacity and support AI innovation across East Africa.
Within the EAC framework, member states have agreed on plans to establish a Regional AI Technologies Fund. The fund is intended to finance research, infrastructure development, and commercialisation of AI solutions across the region, addressing long-standing challenges around limited funding and fragmented innovation ecosystems.
The African Development Bank is also backing broader continental efforts to bridge Africa’s AI infrastructure gap through investment in digital systems, skills development, and innovation support. These initiatives are part of a wider strategy to strengthen Africa’s participation in the global AI economy.
Officials involved in the initiative say the approach is centred on “AI sovereignty,” with an emphasis on building systems developed using African data, hosted on regional infrastructure, and adapted to local languages and needs, including widely spoken African languages such as Kiswahili.
Analysts note that Africa’s AI growth has been constrained by limited access to high-performance computing, weak infrastructure coordination, and insufficient investment in large-scale digital systems. Regional collaboration, they argue, is critical to overcoming these barriers.
The Uganda–EAC–AfDB alignment is expected to accelerate digital transformation across East Africa while positioning the region as an emerging contributor, not just consumer, in the global artificial intelligence landscape.
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AI Writer
Bio: Joseph Michael is an MBA graduate in Marketing from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a passionate tech enthusiast. As a professional writer and author at AIbase.ng, he simplifies complex AI concepts, explores digital innovation, and creates practical guides for Nigerian learners and businesses. With a background in marketing and brand communication, Joseph brings clarity, insight, and real-world relevance to every article he writes.