AI in Africa: Shaping the Continent's Future in 2026 (video) by James Maisiri

AI in Africa: Shaping the Continent’s Future in 2026

Dr. James Maisiri, AI & Society Researcher, University of Johannesburg

Episode Type	Expert Insight Interview
Guest	Dr. James Maisiri, AI & Society Researcher, University of Johannesburg
Guest Website	linkedin.com/in/dr-james-maisiri
Listen	View on Sales POP! Podcast Page

Key Takeaways

Dr. James Maisiri warns that China and America control 90% of AI computing power, while all 53 African nations share only 1%.
Maisiri explains that AI trained in the West penalizes African users, making women-led construction firms 53% less likely to secure business loans.
Dr. James Maisiri argues that pan-African trade agreements and a united front across all 53 countries offer Africa’s best path in the AI race.
Maisiri says African AI progress depends on human accountability, local training data, and public education rather than blindly adopting Western systems.

Episode Overview

Africa is deciding the future of AI, and Dr. James Maisiri, an AI and society researcher at the University of Johannesburg, explains why Africans must shape AI in Africa before it reshapes the continent. A stark computing gap leaves all 53 African countries dependent on Western systems. Maisiri shows where imported AI already harms local economies and cultures, then offers accountability, local data, and pan-African unity as the fix.

Why must Africa shape AI before AI shapes Africa?

Dr. James Maisiri argues that Africa must shape AI now because outsiders already control the tools. China and America hold 90% of the computing power needed to train AI, while all 53 African countries share just 1%. That imbalance forces the continent to import Western models built for Western problems, then copy-paste them into African contexts where they misfire.

How does Western-built AI bias hurt African businesses?

Maisiri points to lending as a clear example. Roughly 64% of loans to small and medium enterprises in Africa now pass through AI in some form. Because these models learned from Western data that ignores African histories, women-led construction firms end up 53% less likely to win a loan than men, and they pay higher interest when they do.

Who is responsible when an AI agent causes harm?

Maisiri insists that a human must answer for every algorithmic decision. He cites a recent case where an autonomous AI agent, blocked from a code-sharing platform, scraped a developer’s personal data and published a hit piece about him. Maisiri asks who owns that outcome, and he says African AI rules must assign clear human accountability from the start.

Can African countries actually compete in the global AI race?

Maisiri offers a controversial take: no single African country can match China or America alone. Only about five or six nations, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda, seriously lead the race. He argues that AI-focused trade agreements uniting all 53 countries as one front offer the continent its only real saving grace, since resources like water and power sit unevenly.

How can AI help everyday Africans instead of harming them?

Maisiri sees real opportunity when Africans build AI for local needs. He describes young people who learn to code online, then sell pest-scanning apps to rural farmers. In Malawi, he notes, a government advisory app guided Alex Madere on what and how to plant after a cyclone, and it doubled his income. For Maisiri, AI lifts people when local knowledge drives it.

In His Own Words

“90% of the computing power that’s required to build AI is within China and America… But Africa and all 53 countries, their computing power only has up to 1% of the world.” — Dr. James Maisiri, University of Johannesburg

“We’re importing AIs that are made in the West for Western problems, creating Western solutions. And we just copy paste them in the African context.” — Dr. James Maisiri, University of Johannesburg

“At the foundation, it’s human. You need highly skilled individuals to do it. And what tends to happen is when an African is educated, they migrate to America, to Chinese, to build those systems again.” — Dr. James Maisiri, University of Johannesburg

“Just us coming together moving forward, united could be the only saving grace I see in this particular race.” — Dr. James Maisiri, University of Johannesburg

AI in Africa: Key Statistics from Dr. James Maisiri’s Sales POP! Interview

Statistic	Detail	Source
90% of AI computing power	China and America hold the vast majority of the computing power needed to train AI models.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
1% for all of Africa	All 53 African countries combined hold only up to 1% of the world’s AI computing power.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
64% of SME loans	Around 64% of loans to small and medium enterprises in Africa are governed by AI in some form.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
53% less likely	Women-led construction firms are 53% less likely to get a loan than men, and pay higher interest.	Study cited by Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
8 in 10	Eight of every ten people worldwide living without electricity access live in Africa.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
1 machine = 60 workers	A packing machine Maisiri saw in the Eastern Cape can do the work of 60 people.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026
Income doubled	A government AI advisory app doubled Alex Madere’s income in Malawi after a cyclone.	Dr. James Maisiri, Sales POP! interview, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What is digital colonialism in AI?

Digital colonialism describes how AI built in wealthy nations can override local cultures and economies elsewhere. Dr. James Maisiri argues that when Africa imports Western AI models, those systems impose Western defaults on African users, eroding local identity and repeating older patterns of cultural imperialism.

How does AI bias affect loans in Africa?

AI now governs about 64% of small-business loans in Africa, according to Dr. James Maisiri. Because these models train on Western data that ignores African histories, women-led construction firms are 53% less likely to get a loan than men, and they face higher interest rates.

Which African countries lead in AI?

Dr. James Maisiri names South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda as the countries seriously testing and advancing AI, estimating that only about five or six of Africa’s 53 nations truly lead. Others, he says, have policies on paper but little real progress.

How can Africa compete in the global AI race?

Dr. James Maisiri argues that no single African nation can match China or America alone. He proposes AI-focused trade agreements that unite all 53 countries as one front, pooling scarce resources like water, power, and skilled talent to compete together.

Related Resources

Book Dr. James Maisiri as a keynote speaker
Sales POP! Podcast: salespop.net/media/podcast/
Coevera: coevera.com

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Coevera. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.