China is increasingly involved in Africa’s rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), with Chinese startup DeepSeek at the forefront of this digital transformation.
Experts note the growing presence of China on the continent’s digital landscape. While this offers new opportunities, it also presents policymakers with the challenge of establishing effective governance frameworks for these new technologies.
Through the Digital Silk Road initiative, which Beijing introduced in 2015, Chinese companies have been building crucial digital infrastructure across Africa. This includes submarine and terrestrial cables, 5G networks, and data centers, as stated by Yu Jia, a senior operations officer at Peking University’s Institute of New Structural Economics. “They laid the critical hardware foundation for AI development and adoption across the continent,” she said.
China has a significant economic presence in Africa, and is the continent’s second-largest overseas contracted engineering market. According to China’s State Council, during the last decade, Chinese enterprises have signed engineering deals in Africa worth over US$700 billion.
By August 2024, 52 African nations and the African Union had set up agreements with China under its Belt and Road Initiative.
“The adoption and development of AI in Africa is still in its early stages, but it has already demonstrated significant potential, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education and finance,” Yu observed.
