JOHANNESBURG, GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA – Research by the South African AI Association and the AI Media Group has shown that 94% of the African AI Ecosystem is contained in just 20 countries
Back in 2020 the AI Media Group, South Africa began a fundamental analysis of the African AI Ecosystem and the companies in Africa with a declared specialism in Artificial Intelligence. This work formed the basis of the highly rated first edition of the State of AI in Africa Report that offered the first detailed analysis of the emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) landscape in Africa.
It contains multiple statistics and trends while offering insights on key communities driving the ecosystem across the continent. The report was principally created to offer multiple statistics and trends while offering insights on key communities driving the ecosystem across the continent for analysts, enterprises, channel managers, governments, VCs / investors, NGOs, Embassies, trade missions & regional promotion agencies who are seeking deeper insights about the dynamics of this rapidly growing frontier tech market.
5 years on and African AI Ecosystem has more than doubled in size and is rapidly evolving and grown from 2473 to 5906 companies with a declared specialism in AI. That’s a 240% increase in just 4 years and the Top 20 countries accounting for 94% of the ecosystem
Taking a closer look at the African AI Ecosystem Top 20 countries : South Africa Nigeria Egypt Kenya Morocco Ghana Tunisia Uganda Cameroon Tanzania Zimbabwe Algeria Ethiopia Rwanda Mauritius Senegal Ivory Coast Zambia Botswana and DRC.
Dr Nick Bradshaw, CEO of the AI Media Group and Chairperson of the South African AI Association stated, “The origins of our analysis of the African AI Ecosystem were motivated from a lack of data about the regional / continental landscape for what is one of the fastest growing tech sectors globally. When we started our company back in 2018, there was literally no data about the African AI Ecosystem and the region as a whole. Most local activity was either academic or developer community focused, with very little connection between these communities, industry practitioners and investors. But over the last 7 years this has radically changed and our most recent data set shows the positive growth that has occurred.”
This analysis will be explored and discussed in more detail at the 8th Edition of AI Expo Africa. Now entering its 8th year, the annual AI Expo Africa event held in South Africa unites 1000s of regional and international thought leaders, suppliers and start-ups to discuss and showcase the latest AI & Intelligent Automation innovations, from the biggest global brands to the smallest and newest local SMMEs. The core focus of the show are real world applications you can deploy today with a senior level audience comprised of Enterprise and Government buyers, deployment & service providers, start-ups, educators, NGOs and ecosystem builders.
New for AI Expo Africa 2025 will see the hosting of the first AI for Good Impact Africa Summit on 31st October. This is the second regional AI for Good Impact event dedicated to fostering innovation and partnerships within the AI for Good landscape. The event aims to provide a collaborative platform for knowledge sharing and the promotion of AI solutions to solve global challenges. Learn more at: https://aiforgood.itu.int/event/impact-africa/
About the AI Media Group
The AI Media Group is a South African based industry analysis, publishing & advisory consultancy focused on the AI and smart tech sector in Africa. The group runs the South African AI Association and are the organisers of AI Expo Africa, the continent’s largest Enterprise Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trade show. They also publish The State of AI in Africa Report and Synapse Magazine, Africa’s only AI trade magazine charting Africa’s 4.0 innovation journey. The group also runs AI TV which hosts discussions on trends in AI / deep tech technologies with local, regional and global thought leaders.
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