The African AI Market is projected to reach $8.39 billion by 2027 if properly harnessed, supported by the rapid transformation across industries accelerated by AI.
According to a recent report by PwC titled, ‘Mid-Year Review and Updates: H2 2025 Economic Outlook’.
It highlighted how AI is rapidly transforming industries and is expected to power 40% of use cases by 2027, while the labour markets may face job role shifts that demand urgent reskilling.
The report noted that Africa accounted for under 1% of global AI companies, far behind the US and Europe.
However, it noted that out of the 2,400 organizations working on AI innovations in Africa, Nigeria ranked second, accounting for 19% of the total signalling potential for growth and investment.
Ranking African countries in terms of AI talent readiness, Nigeria ranked 18th, higher than Zambia and Botswana but below South Africa and Kenya.
Highlighting the critical issues affecting Nigeria’s AI development, it emphasized that Nigeria benefits from a large, youthful population and emerging tech hubs. However, lack of AI infrastructure, advanced skills training, and a unified national AI strategy.
To close the gap and emerge among the top tier AI destinations in Africa, PwC urged Nigeria to boost its AI education pipelines, invest in high-speed digital infrastructure, and deepen collaboration between government, academic, and industry partnerships to emerge among the continent’s top performers.
