Why the AI revolution is leaving Africa behind

PWC, a professional-services firm, reckons that AI could add almost $16trn to global economic output by around 2030 (compared with 2017). McKinsey, a consulting firm, separately arrived at a similar figure, but now reckons this could rise by another 15-40% because of newer forms of AI such as large learning models. Yet Africa, which has around 17% of the world’s population, looks likely to get a boost from AI in its annual GDP of just $400m by 2030, or 2.5% of the total, because it lacks digital infrastructure. As a result, instead of helping to narrow the productivity and income gap between Africa and richer countries, AI seems set to widen it.