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Nigeria is emerging as one of the leading centres of artificial intelligence (AI) activity in Africa, alongside Kenya and South Africa, according to the World Bank.
The assessment is contained in the bank’s latest Africa Economic Update, which examines the readiness of Sub-Saharan African countries to harness AI for economic growth and development.
The World Bank said AI activity in the region was heavily concentrated in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, which account for a significant share of Africa’s innovation ecosystem, venture capital investment, research output and advanced AI applications.
It said the three countries were at the forefront of Africa’s emerging AI ecosystem, although most African economies remained at the early stages of adopting and adapting existing AI technologies.
The report noted that 44 per cent of firms surveyed in Nigeria and Kenya were already using AI technologies, compared with 61 per cent of surveyed firms in the United States.
However, the bank said the sophistication of AI deployment remained lower in the two African countries, with many businesses still using basic applications rather than integrating AI deeply into their operations.
The World Bank also identified Nigeria and South Africa as the continent’s leading centres of AI research.
Between 2000 and 2024, Nigeria produced 4,428 AI-related publications and recorded 64,925 citations, while South Africa produced 7,647 publications and recorded 142,024 citations, according to the report.
The bank said Nigeria’s growing position in the AI ecosystem was also reflected in the expansion of its developer community and digital infrastructure.
It noted that AI activity was increasingly concentrated around countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, while almost half of Africa’s approximately 160 data centre facilities were located in the three countries.
Despite the progress, the World Bank warned that major infrastructure gaps could limit the benefits Nigeria and other African countries derive from AI.
It identified reliable electricity, affordable internet connectivity, digital skills, quality data, computing infrastructure, strong institutions and effective governance as critical foundations for wider AI adoption.
The bank said Africa’s immediate opportunity was not necessarily to compete with advanced economies in developing frontier AI models, but to adopt and adapt affordable AI solutions to address local development challenges.
Such applications, it said, could improve productivity and service delivery in areas including education, agriculture, healthcare, finance, logistics and public administration.
The World Bank also said AI could become a major source of economic growth and job creation if African countries successfully addressed their readiness gaps.
Under an ambitious scenario, the report projects that AI could add up to $1 trillion to Africa’s gross domestic product by 2035 and create between 35 million and 40 million digital jobs.
For Nigeria, the report’s assessment presents a mixed picture: the country is already one of Africa’s major AI centres, but sustained investment in electricity, digital infrastructure, skills, data and governance will be required to turn its growing AI activity into broader economic opportunities.
The World Bank stressed that the challenge for African countries was therefore not simply to adopt AI, but to create the conditions needed for the technology to deliver inclusive development and improved living standards.The World Bank’s own Africa Economic Update confirms the central point, while the specific Nigeria figures above are reported from coverage of the October 2026 report.
English (US) ·