African Currents

Africa Must 'Master Skill of Prioritizing Human-Centric AI,' Tech Guru Says

12:00, 15 March 2026
Chimauchem Nwosu
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After teaching himself to code with limited resources, a young African programmer now builds artificial intelligence tools to address distinctly African problems while launching initiatives that expand digital skills, widen access to AI tools, and position the continent to compete in the fast-evolving global tech economy.
Sputnik
The global race to develop artificial intelligence is largely framed through the achievements of a few dominant centesr such as Silicon Valley, Beijing, London, and Toronto, while Africa, home to 1.4 billion people, is often treated mainly as a market rather than a source of innovation. The continent produces fewer than 2,000 AI-related research papers each year, far behind the output of the United States, China, and Europe, largely because funding, research infrastructure, and institutional support remain limited. Yet within this gap a new generation of self-taught developers is emerging, building tools and solutions tailored to the realities of cities such as Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Accra. One such developer recounts his journey from learning to code on his own to building AI systems, offering a personal story that doubles as a broader argument that Africa’s digital future will be shaped not abroad but by Africans creating technology for their own societies.
African Currents interviewed Siphiwe Mabusela, founder and CEO of NzuluAI and Stratida in South Africa, to discuss how locally developed AI systems could reshape industries such as agriculture, mining, and healthcare and help position Africa as a creator of the technologies that will define its economic future.

"From my perspective and my story, as a self-taught coder, I wasn't learning programming to build apps for entertainment. I was actually trying to solve a practical problem around me [...]. We need to protect the African heritage [...]. We need solutions that can enhance agriculture and solutions that could enhance the energy sector, solutions that enhance education, solutions that would enhance infrastructural development, and things that can accelerate growth because we're still in the growth stages. We do not need humanoids that are going to cook for us, no. So we need to now allow our people with ideas and startups; give them that opportunity to realize these ideas that are problem-solving here in Africa [rather] than important solutions that are outside of what we need," Mabusela said.

Catch the full discussion on the African Currents podcast, presented by Sputnik Africa.
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