Unleashing Africa’s AI Power: $10B Initiative to Boost Productivity
UNDP delegation with AfDB team at the AfDB HQ in Abidjan. October 2026
Abidjan, 14 October 2026 – The AI 10 Billion Initiative has received a boost.
Moreover, the boost follows a visit by a UNDP delegation to African Development Bank Group, moving from launch to delivery.
The AI 10 Billion Initiative is a co-designed partnership between the Bank Group, UNDP and private sector partners.
Additionally, the initiative orchestrates $1 billion per year over the next decade.
It can contribute to 25 million new jobs by 2035.
The UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa’s delegation was led by Keyzom Ngodup Massally, Director of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development along with UNDP Platform for Investment and Technical Assistance (PISTA).
The mission follows the initiative’s launch at the Nairobi AI Forum in February 2026.
Additionally, it includes the ongoing implementation of the Africa Accelerator for Digital Public Infrastructure (AA4DPI) initiative.
Bank’s 2025 report projects inclusive AI adoption could add up to USD 1 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2035.
Fifty-eight percent lies in five sectors shaping young Africans’ lives.
They are agriculture, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, finance, and health.
With more than 300 million young Africans set to enter working age within ten years, productivity matters.
“Productivity is one of the key measures by which the African Development Bank Group judges the promise of artificial intelligence. Through AI 10 Billion, and in partnership with UNDP, we will align public and private capital behind that objective, so that the benefits of AI translate into competitiveness, employment and inclusive growth across the continent,” said Solomon Quaynor, Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization at the African Development Bank.
Capital for the energy, data and skills that AI 10 Billion Initiative depends on already exists across governments, development finance institutions (DFIs) and private investors. What is needed is a shared focus. The Bank Group brings the evidence base, financing and its relationships with 54 regional member countries. UNDP brings its country presence and technical expertise through the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, of which the Bank is a member.
In each country, AI 10 Billion will work at three stages.
First, it diagnoses productivity opportunities through a single country analysis.
Next, it identifies and prepares public and private projects until they are ready for financing.
Finally, it convenes a partnership investment platform that brings governments, investors and regional economic communities together.
The Bank Group and UNDP will begin with 5 countries, extending to 20 by the end of 2027, and invite governments, DFIs, private investors and philanthropies to join the initiative.
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