The conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. Entrepreneurs, executives, and policymakers all seem to be united in hailing AI as the transformative technology of our time.
The AI Hype
For Africa, the excitement is palpable. The continent’s youthful population, entrepreneurial spirit, and untapped markets make it fertile ground for AI-driven innovation. Already, we are seeing exciting use cases: AI-powered medical diagnostics in rural clinics, smart climate tools for farmers, and fintech products that expand financial inclusion.
But amid the excitement, there is a more complex, less glamorous truth we must confront: Africa cannot leapfrog to an AI-powered future without doing the “boring” work first.
The boring work is the painstaking, often invisible foundation-building that makes advanced technologies viable. It’s the fibre optic cables that connect cities, the reliable power grids that keep servers running, the well-designed regulatory frameworks that give investors confidence, the skilled technicians who maintain infrastructure, and the foreign capital that enables long-term development.
Without these, AI in Africa risks being little more than a distraction. While it is easy to get excited about innovative technology, these solutions will never be able to scale properly if the supporting ecosystem and infrastructure is too fragile.
Laying the Groundwork
Consider the basics: no business, no matter how advanced, can thrive without reliable power. For a bank, AI might be useful to detect fraud in real time, assess creditworthiness for customers without formal credit histories, or personalise financial services to reach underserved populations. But that potential can never be achieved if the bank doesn’t have access to sufficient power for these energy-intensive machines.
The same goes for other basic infrastructure such as roads, which many African countries lack. Before AI can transform farming, for instance, farmers must first have dependable power for irrigation and access to proper roads to get their produce to market. Without these fundamentals, even the most sophisticated AI solutions cannot deliver their full potential.
This is not to dismiss the potential of AI. Rather, it is to recognise that Africa’s AI future will be limited unless it can get these fundamentals in place. In too many cases, the hype risks obscuring the unglamorous work of building roads, warehouses, and energy systems.
These are not technologies that grab headlines. But they are the critical industries that unlock investment into everything else.
Fixing the Basic
Take logistics. Africa’s fragmented supply chains add enormous cost to doing business. Fixing this problem is not glamorous; it involves everything from better roads to more efficient customs procedures. But once addressed, it lowers the barriers for other industries such as e-commerce, agriculture exports, and advanced manufacturing. These are all sectors where AI and digital solutions can then multiply value.
Or take transport. AI tools are being developed in advanced economies that can optimise delivery routes or predict traffic flows, but these tools are meaningless if trucks are stuck on impassable rural roads or shipments are delayed at congested ports. The focus should therefore be on building the reliable roads, bridges, and basic logistics infrastructure that Africa needs before thinking about AI hype.
Growth Opportunities
In addition, the boring work is also where the outsized opportunities lie for investors. Africa’s infrastructure gaps are well known, but they are also pathways for growth. Closing the energy access gap, for instance, is a multi-billion dollar opportunity. The logistics market is similarly vast. And unlike speculative bets on the latest app, these sectors are more likely to generate steady, long-term returns because they underpin entire economies.
At Laurendeau & Associates, we believe that positioning capital towards these “boring” sectors is not only pragmatic but essential for Africa’s technological leap forward. It is also a narrative that balances ambition with realism. Africa does not need hype: it needs sustained, credible investment that builds capacity year by year.
Enkopa Summit
This is why the upcoming Enkopa Summit matters. Taking place in Addis Ababa on October 9-10th, the Enkopa Summit is a platform to highlight the practical steps required to de-risk investment in critical industries, how to build cross-border capital flows, how to align regulatory environments with innovation, and how to connect global investors with African opportunities that are both impactful and profitable.
Bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers working on Africa’s future, the Enkopa Summit aims to shift the narrative from one of hype to one of hard, necessary work. It will remind us that while Africa may aspire to lead in the technologies of the future, the first test is whether the continent can build the unshakable foundations that are critical in the near-term.
Africa does not have to choose between ambition and pragmatism. It can and should dream big about AI. But it must also commit to the slow, sometimes tedious work of building grids, roads, ports, regulations, and human capital.
The world is watching Africa’s growth story with interest. To keep that interest real, Africa must prove it is serious about the boring stuff. Because in the end, it is the boring stuff that makes the exciting stuff possible.
By Bernard Laurendeau, Managing Partner at Laurendeau & Associates
