Africa’s growing ambitions to become a global artificial intelligence hub could be derailed unless the continent urgently addresses critical infrastructure challenges, a technology expert has warned.
Speaking at the IDC CIO Summit 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Steven Santini, Vice President for Secure Power for Sub-Saharan Africa at Schneider Electric, said Africa is attracting increasing attention from global AI investors but still faces major hurdles.
The summit brought together technology decision-makers to discuss emerging trends shaping the future of digital transformation.
Santini said international AI players are already eyeing Africa as the next destination for major investments.
“The question becomes: is Africa ready? Global AI players increasingly view Africa as the next frontier, the new gold rush, in many respects. We have the land, the resources, and the growth potential,” he said.
He noted that investment in data centres is already taking shape across several African countries.
“As many have already seen, data centres are being developed across Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and other regions where investment is welcomed.”
However, Santini cautioned that enthusiasm around AI must be matched with investments in infrastructure.
He identified electricity as the biggest obstacle facing the sector.
“Power remains the number one challenge for AI, particularly AI data centres. To put this into perspective, some of the projects we are involved with in the Middle East have power requirements comparable to entire cities.”
Santini also challenged the perception that AI development is only about building giant data centres.
Instead, he urged organisations to explore smaller and more practical AI solutions that can be deployed closer to where they are needed.
“When people hear ‘AI’, they often picture massive hyperscale data centres. But AI exists in many different forms. Your laptop can run AI workloads. A small ten-node server cluster deployed at an industrial site can support AI applications. AI does not always require enormous, high-density centralised environments.”
He said this approach is particularly suitable for Africa as various sectors increasingly adopt AI to improve efficiency.
Industries such as mining, agriculture, financial services and government are already using AI to enhance automation, predictive maintenance and decision-making.
According to Santini, many organisations are embracing smaller AI systems because they are easier and cheaper to deploy.
“We are seeing many African organisations deploying smaller AI environments through prefabricated systems, containerised data centres, or even single racks within existing facilities. This allows them to leverage existing cooling and power infrastructure while simplifying deployment.”
He also stressed that connectivity is equally important in supporting AI growth.
“A data centre without reliable network infrastructure is effectively just an expensive paperweight. If data cannot move efficiently in and out, the infrastructure cannot deliver value.”
Beyond physical infrastructure, Santini said software intelligence will become increasingly important in helping organisations improve energy efficiency and manage power constraints.
“We live in a world where power is constrained, and nowhere is that reality felt more strongly than in Africa. Because of this, we need both the right physical infrastructure and the right software intelligence to maximise efficiency and performance.”
He said Africa’s AI journey should be driven by clear business objectives rather than excitement around new technology.
“AI in Africa is not a future concept; it is already happening. But success will depend on defining the right operational outcomes first and then aligning the appropriate technologies, power, cooling, computing, storage, and networking around those goals.”
Santini said Schneider Electric is positioning itself to support organisations pursuing sustainable AI growth across the continent.
“As Schneider Electric, we position ourselves as the energy technology partner helping organisations achieve those outcomes efficiently and sustainably,” he concluded.
