AfDB and UNDP start deploying US$10b AI initiative for Africa

Details: John Tanner; Category: Investment; 16 October 2026; 4012 views

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced on Wednesday that their ambitious US$10 billion initiative to accelerate AI adoption across Africa has progressed to the deployment phase.

First announced in February this year, the AI 10 Billion Initiative is a co-designed partnership between AfDB, UNDP and private sector partners that aims to invest US$1 billion per year over the next decade in 54 countries across Africa.

In each country, AI 10 Billion will work at three stages: diagnosing productivity opportunities through a single country analysis; identifying and preparing public and private projects until they are ready for financing; and convening a partnership investment platform that brings governments, investors and regional economic communities together.

AfDB and UNDP said the initiative will begin with five countries, extending to 20 by the end of 2027, and invite governments, DFIs, private investors and philanthropies to join the initiative. A joint statement didn’t name which five countries will be first in line for the initiative.

AfDB said the AI 10 Billion Initiative is expected to contribute to 25 million new jobs by 2035 via targeted investments that build AI foundations and catalyse broad-based adoption.

A June 2025 report from AfDB forecasts that inclusive AI adoption could add up to US$1 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2035, with 58% of that coming from the agriculture, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, finance, and health sectors.

With more than 300 million young Africans set to enter working age within ten years, productivity is the measure that matters, said Solomon Quaynor, VP for private sector, infrastructure and industrialization at AfDB.

“Productivity is one of the key measures by which the African Development Bank Group judges the promise of artificial intelligence,” Quaynor said in a statement. “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.”

The update was announced during a visit to by a delegation from the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa to AfDB's headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on Wednesday. The 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).