The joint venture starts in Nigeria with the aim of expanding across the continent by 2026.
Lagos, Nigeria – Four technology companies: Lakeba Group (Australia), Next Digital (Nigeria), AqlanX (UAE) and Agentic Dynamic (Netherlands), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give life to Africa, a joint venture dedicated to developing and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions tailored for African markets.
The initiative begins in Nigeria. Africa It will leverage national data centers and existing digital infrastructure to bring AI to key sectors: health, digital identity, public administration, and business services.
This joint venture aims to empower Africa by giving it the capacity to develop sovereign, context-aware AI systems that truly reflect its local priorities and realities.
Building AI Capacity in Africa
The approach of Africa focuses on development in Africa, not on outsourcing.
The joint venture's vision is for an AI network across Africa, capable of addressing local needs in agriculture, urban planning, education, and citizen services.
By 2026, AfricAI plans to expand its operations to Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda, training over 100 professionals to strengthen regional expertise in AI development and implementation.
Areas of intervention
The joint venture will focus on applications that combine technical innovation and local governance requirements. This includes:
- secure systems for digital identity and document automation;
- advanced technologies for health and education;
- Agent-based AI architectures ready for adaptability and transparency in HR, legal, and policy.
Africa He also plans to found a Center of Excellence to promote the development of key skills: AI engineering, cybersecurity, model training, and ethical deployment.Leveraging Nigeria's cloud and edge infrastructure, the initiative ensures that sensitive data and AI workloads remain under local control, in compliance with national data residency regulations.
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Strengthening digital sovereignty
Integrating regulatory compliance, multilingual capabilities and secure access controls, Africa The project aims to create a solid foundation for the reliable adoption of AI, both in the public and private sectors. Pilot projects will cover government services, financial technologies, healthcare, and public services, with the broader goal of supporting digital sovereignty and interoperability among African countries.
Partner Perspectives
Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, President of Next Digital, said:
«Africa It means building AI capabilities within Africa. Nigeria offers the right foundation for this journey, and through collaboration, we aim to shape AI that responds to local needs and aspirations.. "Giuseppe Porcelli, CEO of Lakeba Group, stated:
«Nigeria represents a key starting point for creating a sustainable AI ecosystem in Africa. Africa will help ensure that infrastructure and innovation are developed locally, with a long-term growth vision. "Demetrio Russo, CEO of AqlanX, commented:
«Digital trust and multilingual compliance are central elements for AfricaThis initiative will support Africa's digital sovereignty agenda and enable secure, large-scale innovation.. "Eren Sivaslı, President of Agentic Dynamic, said:
«Our goal is scalable automation that complements human workflows. Africa It offers us the opportunity to apply our agent-based architecture within a collaborative and international framework.. "
Learn more about partners
NextDigital is a Nigerian company that develops digital solutions and locally designed AI infrastructure, with the mission of strengthening the capacity of African countries to manage their digital future.Lakeba Group is a venture studio based in Sydney, Australia, with extensive experience building and commercializing technology ventures in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure.AqlanX, based in the United Arab Emirates, specializes in AI solutions for enterprises, with a focus on multilingual automation and secure digital transformation in sectors such as government, finance, and healthcare.Agentic Dynamic, founded in Amsterdam, is a technology company that develops enterprise AI platforms based on multi-agent architectures and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems.
Contact details
Gurol Uzenc
info@africai.ai
https://www.africai.ai
Comments (1)
The AfricAI initiative seems interesting for developing AI solutions in Africa. I hope implementation is swift and that we see concrete results in the coming years, as the needs are many and urgent.