The African Development Bank has released a roadmap projecting that artificial intelligence could add up to $1 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2035, representing nearly one-third of the continent’s current economic output, if deployed at scale and inclusively.
The report, titled “Africa’s AI Productivity Gain: Pathways to Labour Efficiency, Economic Growth and Inclusive Transformation,” was developed under the G20 Digital Transformation Working Group and conducted by consulting firm Bazara Tech. According to the study released December 11-12, AI adoption could generate between 35 and 40 million net new digital and digitally enabled jobs and deliver an estimated $150 billion in additional annual tax revenues by 2035.
Five Sectors to Drive Growth
The projected economic gains are expected to concentrate in five high-impact sectors rather than spread evenly across the economy. Agriculture and food systems are projected to deliver the largest gains at around $200 billion, as AI tools improve yields, reduce post-harvest losses, and strengthen market access. Wholesale and retail trade could contribute about $140 billion through better demand forecasting and logistics optimization, while manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are expected to add roughly $90 billion.
Finance and financial inclusion could generate about $80 billion by extending credit and strengthening fraud detection, with health and life sciences rounding out the top five at an estimated $70 billion from AI-supported diagnostics and clinical decision support. Together, these sectors are projected to account for 58 percent of the total AI-driven economic uplift, or approximately $580 billion by 2035.
Implementation Challenges and Timeline
The report outlines a three-phase roadmap toward AI readiness: ignition from 2025 to 2027 focusing on foundational investments and pilot initiatives, consolidation from 2028 to 2031 to strengthen institutions and scale proven solutions, and a final scale phase from 2032 to 2035 to embed AI across key sectors.
“Achieving early milestones by 2026 will set Africa’s AI flywheel in motion,” said Ousmane Fall, Director of Industrial and Trade Development at the African Development Bank. “Africa’s challenge is no longer what to do — it is doing it on time.”
The report stresses that realizing this potential depends on five interconnected enablers: data, compute, skills, trust, and capital. Nicholas Williams, Manager of the ICT Operations Division at the bank, said the institution is ready to deploy investment to support priority actions, calling on governments and the private sector to utilize this financing to achieve productivity gains and create quality jobs.
