Report author, and CEO of the AI Media Group, Dr Nick Bradshaw stated, “The origins of this report 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 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. What reports we could find were fragmented or limited to a single country or city. We felt it was a good time to bring it all together into one report.”
The State of AI in Africa Report launch was held on the 14th June at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Pretoria, South Africa and co-hosted by the World Economic Forum Centre for the 4IR South Africa and City of Tshwane. This 32-page report will appeal to 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.
A key finding was just how cross cutting this technology is, with South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt & Kenya dominating this sector and AI impacting at least 120+ separate market segments across Africa. Privately owned SMMEs / Micro businesses make up 75% of this sector, 40% of which were founded in the last 5 years, showing the importance nation states need to place on supporting their local tech ecosystems. It’s also attracting serious capital, with Tunisian AI start-up InstaDeep receiving $100m USD Series A funding earlier in 2022. The global AI market is also projected to grow from $387 Bn USD in 2022 to $1,394 Bn by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 20%. Bradshaw concluded, “It’s a positive sign that this technology and the growing regional AI start-up ecosystems can win big across Africa if these trends continue.”
A copy of the report can be obtained online here https://aiafricareport.gumroad.com/
About the AI Media Group
The AI Media Group is a South African based industry analysis, publishing & business events consultancy specializing in the 4IR / smart tech sector in Africa. They are curators of AI Expo Africa, the continent’s largest B2B/B2G Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trade show and publishers of Synapse, the first quarterly trade magazine charting Africa’s 4IR innovation journey. The group also runs AI TV which hosts discussions on trends in AI and 4IR technologies with local, regional and global thought leaders.
