Kenya has emerged as one of the leading centres of artificial intelligence (AI) activity in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Nigeria and South Africa. According to the World Bank's latest Africa Economic Update, these three countries account for much of the region's innovation ecosystem, venture capital investment, and research output. This puts Kenya at the forefront of Africa's emerging AI economy, despite a gap between widespread experimentation with the technology and its deeper integration into business operations and public services.
The World Bank report notes that most African economies, including Kenya, remain in the early stages of AI adoption, relying mainly on ready-made AI products or modifying existing systems for local needs rather than developing frontier technologies. Among firms with at least 20 employees surveyed in Kenya and Nigeria, 44 percent reported using AI technologies, compared with 61 percent among surveyed US firms. This highlights the adoption gap between African businesses and those in advanced economies.
Even among firms using AI, the depth of deployment remains limited, with only 36 percent of AI-using firms in the surveyed developing countries applying more sophisticated uses such as AI agents or automation. In contrast, 56 percent of firms in the United States use more advanced AI applications. The World Bank says firms surveyed in Kenya and Nigeria are mainly using basic AI tools such as AI chatbots and generative AI, while more sophisticated applications remain limited and uneven across businesses.
The World Bank estimates that AI could add as much as $1 trillion to Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035 under an ambitious scenario in which countries close major gaps in data, computing capacity, skills, trust, and capital. However, under current preparedness levels, AI integration across Sub-Saharan Africa could add only 0.2 percentage point to cumulative GDP over the next decade, rising to as much as four percent under broader and faster adoption.
The Kenyan government has launched the National AI strategy 2025–2030, which identifies AI digital infrastructure, data and AI governance, as well as AI research, innovation, and commercialisation as its three main pillars. The government has since shifted attention towards implementation, with the ICT ministry saying in September that the focus should move from policy development to measurable gains in productivity, jobs, enterprise growth, and public services.
Public-sector AI adoption is also still at an early stage in Kenya, with governments using the technology more frequently for chatbots and virtual assistants responding to public queries, followed by workflow automation and knowledge management. AI applications for direct service delivery to citizens and support for frontline public workers rank lower than in high-income and upper-middle-income economies. The World Bank report shows that 90.8 percent of AI systems identified through government procurement records supported internal functions, while 88.9 percent relied on predictive or optimisation models and only 1.4 percent used generative AI.
The World Bank cautions against an African race to build expensive frontier AI models, arguing that the bigger near-term opportunity lies in adopting and adapting affordable tools that solve specific local problems. The report notes that regional cooperation will be critical, particularly in building shared computing infrastructure, interoperable data systems, harmonised regulations, and larger markets for AI-enabled products. Kenya currently faces infrastructure constraints that could limit the next phase of adoption, including unreliable electricity, costly devices and data, and shortages of AI-related skills.
Key points
- Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa lead AI activity in sub-Saharan Africa
- Most African economies remain in the early stages of AI adoption
- AI could add as much as $1 trillion to Africa's GDP by 2035 under an ambitious scenario
