There is ample evidence that widespread adoption, the rise of AI agents, significant advances in inference capabilities, and major corporate and government focus on the technology have made 2025 the “Year of AI.” Key trends include AI agents performing complex tasks, advancements in reasoning and planning capabilities, and increasing commercial revenue generated by AI companies as companies invest heavily in AI tools.
One unique difference is that we are seeing the rise of AI agents that can make decisions and take actions without direct human intervention. We’ve seen leading AI companies experiment with advanced reasoning that will make AI models better at complex tasks as they release systems that can plan, verify, and reflect. We also saw mass adoption. Businesses are significantly increasing their use of AI, with the majority of U.S. companies paying for AI tools, and AI-first startups growing faster than their peers. New buds are beginning to appear in the economy.
The AI industry is generating billions of dollars in revenue annually as the cost of AI capabilities decreases while performance improves. Finally, countries are increasingly recognizing AI as a strategic imperative for economic and security reasons, and educational institutions like the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have declared 2025 the ‘Year of Artificial Intelligence’ to transform education.
Africa has recently witnessed what could be described as a major step towards implementing AI on the continent. A technology company led by one of Africa’s billionaires, Strive Masiyiwa, has announced plans to partner with Nvidia to build Africa’s first AI factory. While this is a positive development for the continent, it is not enough.
In recent years, Africa has been trying to catch up in the technology sector. As the continent came closer to catching up, AI was unleashed, creating a huge gap from the start. There is no company in Africa that can compete with global companies in the development of AI technology. At the same time, the African continent has important ingredients in the form of minerals that make up key elements of AI chips. The AI industry would struggle to survive to some extent without the continent’s contribution in the form of minerals. This important role played by the African continent is under-represented where it really matters.
Considering the fact that one of the main themes of the G20 in 2025 focused on inequality, it is not surprising that Africa needed to reach an agreement on how minerals can be used in the AI development process. This is important primarily because while AI can serve as a tool for progress, it can also promote inequality. According to d.Africa is already being left behind, said Marvin Christoffels, director of South Africa’s High Performance Computing Center (CHPC). These were his remarks at the Digital Future Symposium held in Cape Town ahead of a major G20 summit.
If this is true, AI could further widen the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Understanding this fact should encourage leaders to act quickly and do everything in their power to reduce the impact of AI on society. There is no doubt that AI will have a major impact on the economy. For countries developing AI technology, the benefits will be enormous. The same cannot be said for things that just consume AI.
In this regard, I think African scholar Zainab Taonga Chirwa’s proposal is novel and worthy of attention. She focuses on proactive governance frameworks for the critical minerals sector and advocates what can be described as a ‘SaaS’ (Software as a Service) model for minerals in Africa. This approach uses foresight and collaborative policy-making to create a “resource-balanced economy” for Africa, going beyond traditional models to balance economic development with environmental sustainability and equity.
The goal is to overcome challenges such as weak governance and limited industrialization by developing future-ready policies that maximize development outcomes for Africa’s mineral resources.
One such approach being considered could lead to AI companies taking subscriptions instead of purchasing minerals to produce AI technology. This model is interesting in that it allows continents to own minerals while earning income from them. Essentially, Africa is losing in the AI race, but it can turn its fortunes around by 2026.
Wesley Diphoko is a technology analyst and editor-in-chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine.
*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of Independent Media. IOL.
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