East African leaders are stepping up efforts to position the region in the artificial intelligence race, backing young innovators and universities in a bid to turn AI research into businesses capable of creating jobs and attracting investment.
While presenting the East African Community’s 2026/27 budget to the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha on Tuesday, EAC Council of Ministers Chairperson Rebecca Kadaga said the bloc had begun supporting young entrepreneurs to commercialise AI technologies.
“In order to bridge the gap between theoretical capability and real-world values, the Community empowered 16 youth innovators, two from each Partner State, through targeted training and USD10,000 grant support to each youth innovator to transform Artificial Intelligence prototypes into commercially viable products and services,” Kadaga said.
She said the initiative aimed to “accelerate AI-driven entrepreneurship, create jobs, attract investment and enhance the region’s digital competitiveness.”
The move comes as African policymakers increasingly seek to ensure the continent is not left behind by the global AI revolution.
The EAC has also launched a Space Science and Technology Strategy and an Industrial Clusters Strategy to spur innovation and employment.
According to the budget speech, more than 150 academics enrolled in the bloc’s AI Training Programme, with over 40 completing all modules and capstone projects. More than 30% earned micro-credential certificates aimed at strengthening research and innovation capacities across member institutions.
The EAC has also funded research projects at six universities with grants of $10,000 each to strengthen links between academia and industry.
The push reflects a broader continental trend. The African Development Bank estimates that inclusive deployment of AI could add as much as $1 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2035 and support millions of digital jobs.
Still, experts say East Africa faces major challenges, including shortages of computing infrastructure, limited access to venture capital and dependence on foreign AI systems.
Regional officials are increasingly advocating “AI sovereignty” building systems trained on local data, operating in African languages and governed within the continent to reduce dependence on technologies developed abroad.
