The World Bank has warned that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom may leave Africa's poorest households behind, despite its potential to cut poverty and expand the digital economy. In its October 2026 Africa Economic Update, the bank noted that access to affordable internet, devices, electricity, and digital skills remains limited. This could result in the poorest households being shut out of the gains from AI.
The World Bank cited encouraging signs from Nigeria and Ghana, where the number of GitHub developers has grown significantly since 2020. Nigeria's GitHub developer base has grown tenfold, while Ghana's has risen nearly eightfold, with registrations accelerating after free AI coding assistants became available. This growth hints at the potential for a larger digital services sector, stronger regional collaboration, and productivity gains in various sectors.
However, the World Bank warned of a fundamental constraint: only a relatively well-off minority can reliably access and afford the technologies through which AI is delivered. Mobile internet in Sub-Saharan Africa is the least affordable in the world relative to income, with a basic data package costing about twice the United Nations' affordability target of two per cent of average monthly income.
The cost of entry-level handsets and electricity also compounds the problem. An entry-level handset costs the poorest fifth of the population about three-quarters of a month's income. Moreover, mobile phone ownership alone does not provide meaningful digital access without reliable electricity. Across 19 African countries with data, only 12 per cent of households in the poorest income quintile have both a phone and a grid connection.
The World Bank noted that in many countries, fewer than 10 per cent of adults in the poorest quintile are online, against 60 to 70 per cent or more among the richest in better-connected economies. This disparity risks concentrating AI's productivity gains among people and businesses already better positioned, leaving farmers, informal businesses, schools, clinics, and underserved communities behind.
The bank urged countries to move from connecting markets to connecting poor people and places, through investment in connectivity, electricity, digital skills, and computing capacity. If they do not, it will amplify the advantages of those already connected. The World Bank emphasized that the immediate risk for most African economies is not mass displacement of poor workers by AI.
The World Bank's warning highlights the need for African countries to address the digital divide and ensure that the benefits of AI are shared by all. The bank's report emphasizes the importance of investing in digital infrastructure and skills to promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty.
Key points
- The World Bank warns that AI may widen the gap between rich and poor in Africa if access to affordable internet, devices, and electricity is not improved.
- The number of GitHub developers in Nigeria and Ghana has grown significantly since 2020, with registrations accelerating after free AI coding assistants became available.
- The World Bank urges countries to invest in connectivity, electricity, digital skills, and computing capacity to connect poor people and places.
