Africa's growing artificial intelligence ambitions face a major challenge: the continent does not have enough computing infrastructure to support its future needs. Concerns surrounding data centre investments in the United States are further highlighting the risks of depending on foreign infrastructure.

According to UBS estimates cited in the report, almost a third of planned US data centre capacity additions for 2028 could be at risk. This raises questions about the reliability of infrastructure that other economies increasingly depend on.

The situation is particularly concerning for Africa, which accounts for approximately 0.6% of global data centre capacity despite representing around a fifth of the world's population.

An October 2025 report by Access Partnership, AI Beyond Data Centres, estimates that sub-Saharan Africa could face a 98% gap between projected AI computing demand and available data centre capacity by 2030.

Without sufficient local infrastructure, African businesses, researchers and governments may remain dependent on foreign providers for essential computing resources. This could increase costs and limit the continent's control over how its information is stored and processed.

David Gowu, President of Technology Information Confederation Africa (TICON Africa), argues that local computing capacity is essential for Africa to participate meaningfully in the global AI economy.

Beyond data protection, investing in data centres could attract technology investment, create skilled employment and provide startups and universities with more affordable access to computing resources.

At TheGreyIT, we believe Africa cannot build a competitive AI ecosystem while depending heavily on infrastructure controlled by other economies. Developing local data centres, reliable energy systems and stronger data governance must become priorities.