India, Kenya and Italy announce trilateral partnership on AI deployment across Africa
Date: 2026-02-23
By: Nana Appiah Acquaye
India,
Kenya and Italy have announced a trilateral partnership aimed at co-designing
and deploying scalable artificial intelligence frameworks across Africa,
marking a significant development at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
The
collaboration brings together the EkStep Foundation, Kenya’s Directorate of
Digital Economy and Emerging Technologies under the Ministry of ICT and Digital
Economy, and Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. The initiative
will be supported through the United Nations Development Programme AI Hub for
Sustainable Development.
Officials
said the partnership is designed to accelerate the structured diffusion of AI
technologies, shifting from isolated pilot projects toward scalable, sovereign
AI pathways tailored to national priorities. The programme will focus on
expanding voice-enabled AI solutions adapted for African contexts, including
low-connectivity environments, local language support, and models emphasizing
community-led data ownership.
The
initiative aligns with the broader objectives of the AI Hub for Sustainable
Development, which has received endorsement from G7 partners, and contributes
to the target of establishing 100 AI Diffusion Pathways by 2030.
Speaking
at the summit, Robert Opp, Chief Digital Officer at the United Nations
Development Programme, emphasized that scaling AI adoption requires addressing
systemic constraints beyond technology. He noted that governance frameworks,
financing mechanisms, compute infrastructure, and institutional capacity remain
central challenges for countries seeking to deploy AI at scale.
Opp
also moderated a high-level discussion on multistakeholder partnerships,
featuring representatives from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Salesforce, Wadhwani AI, and Tata Consultancy Services.
Participants highlighted the need for coordinated approaches to build inclusive
AI ecosystems capable of delivering sustainable development outcomes.
