• Initiative targets 100 African AI deployments by 2030
• Focus on multilingual, low-bandwidth AI for key sectors

Kenya, India and Italy on Thursday announced a trilateral strategic partnership to develop and deploy sovereign AI solutions across Africa.

The agreement was formalized in New Delhi with the signing of a letter of intent at the AI Impact Summit 2026. The initiative seeks to shift AI adoption from isolated pilot projects to structured “AI diffusion pathways,” with a target of 100 deployment programs by 2030 to expand the technology’s socioeconomic impact across the continent.

AI tailored to African needs

The partnership will prioritize multilingual voice AI systems designed to operate in low-bandwidth environments, with an emphasis on data sovereignty and local control. Target sectors include agriculture, health, education, public services and livelihoods.

The initiative will provide shared infrastructure, including open voice models and affordable computing resources, to lower barriers for African innovators.

The framework builds on the complementary strengths of the three partners: India’s experience in digital public goods, Kenya’s position as a regional technology hub, and Italy’s industrial expertise in artificial intelligence.

Toward sovereign AI infrastructure

The collaboration is led by the EkStep Foundation, the Directorate of Digital Economy at Kenya’s Ministry of ICT, and Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme. It builds on the G7-backed AI Hub for Sustainable Development and aligns with Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa. The initiative follows the 2026 Nairobi AI Forum, which helped African innovators access computing resources and funding.

The signatories say the partnership will lay the groundwork for a sovereign, inclusive and sustainable AI infrastructure led by African stakeholders and tailored to the continent’s economic and linguistic needs.

Inclusive AI deployment could add as much as $1 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2035, driven partly by productivity gains in agriculture, health, education and public services, according to the African Development Bank.

Samira Njoya