African firms risk missing AI boom without scale, PwC warns

By Peter Egwuatu

Priceawaterhouse Coopers, PwC, has warned that Africa risks falling behind global Artificial Intelligence (AI) leaders unless organisations move beyond small-scale AI experiments and deploy the technology to drive growth and innovation across industries.

The firm’s latest AI performance findings released in Lagos showed that although 82 per cent of organisations across the continent are running AI pilot programmes, few have achieved enterprise-wide adoption capable of delivering measurable impact.

Chief Executive Officer of PwC, Dion Shango, said organisations must focus on scaling the “right AI” rather than merely experimenting with the technology.

“Africa’s challenge is both adopting AI at scale and implementing it fast enough to remain competitive,” Shango said. “The organisations that will win are not those running the most pilots, but those that scale the right AI to transform how they create value” Shango added.

The report revealed that African firms are investing an average of only two per cent of revenue into AI, compared with five per cent among global leaders, while just 32 per cent of executives believe current investment levels are sufficient.

According to Olufemi Osinubi, Consulting and Risk Services Leader, PwC West Market, many businesses are still concentrating AI efforts on cost-cutting and productivity improvements instead of using the technology to unlock new revenue streams and business models.

“Focusing AI only on efficiency is a narrowing strategy. The real opportunity lies in using AI to unlock growth, expand into underserved markets, and create entirely new business models,” he said.

Christopher Ogirri, Chief AI Officer, PwC Nigeria, said Africa’s fragmented markets and infrastructure gaps could become advantages if organisations embrace AI-driven ecosystem partnerships.

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