Conversations in Lagos suggest many local founders and investors view AI not as another tech wave that will necessarily leave Africa behind, but as an opportunity to create new kinds of, locally led businesses. Their focus is on building models, infrastructure and applications that serve African markets rather than trying to replicate Silicon Valley’s largest systems.
There are early signs of momentum: more than 1,300 companies applied to the inaugural cohort of African AI startups on the Askya Growth Platform. The Askya Growth Platform is a VC-backed initiative that launched this month.
Babacar Seck, managing partner of Askya Investment Partners, summed up the approach bluntly: “Africa cannot be renting AI, we must be making it.” Practically, that can mean developing smaller models adapted to African languages and contexts, and creating systems that allow governments and businesses to retain control over sensitive data while applying AI to local challenges in energy, agriculture and commerce.
Marlon Nichols, a managing partner at Los Angeles-based MaC Venture Capital, which has deployed about $20 million in early-stage African investments, also sees a shift in venture capital toward physical infrastructure and technologies that are harder for AI to displace. Speaking at the Moonshot conference in Lagos, he said: “VCs are going back to atoms, to more physical things.” Nichols is less interested in the mere construction of data centers than in the technologies that run them — a sign that African firms may not need to build the biggest models to participate in AI-driven value creation.
Still, enthusiasm alone will not ensure a generation of successful African AI companies. Capital remains scarce on the continent, infrastructure is expensive, and many startups’ commercial prospects are unproven: of the firms that applied to Askya’s programme, only 11 were selected for this cohort. As Seck put it, “There’s almost no capital today for African AI, yet people are building.” According to Digital Africa, AI-native startups took less than 2% of the $1.36 billion raised by African startups in the first half of 2026.
That said, it is important not to overlook the founders already building for markets that Big Tech has long underserved. The real opportunity may be less about catching up with Silicon Valley and more about constructing an AI industry that works for Africa’s specific needs and constraints.
Notable
Pharma startup Ro has introduced an AI healthcare agent called Robin that could be used to handle routine tasks such as managing side effects, meal planning, or suggesting medication changes.
