MTN Group Chief Executive Officer, Ralph Mupita, has warned that Africa risks deepening digital inequality if it fails to accelerate the adoption and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across key sectors.

Speaking at the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation Inclusive Growth Forum, Mupita said the continent must act decisively to ensure that the benefits of AI are widely shared warning that inaction could lead to the emergence of a “digital underclass.”

“We must be obsessed and paranoid about not being left behind,” Mupita said, according to a statement released on MTN’s official website.

The telecoms chief outlined six critical priorities that African countries must address to unlock the full potential of AI and safeguard inclusive growth.

1. Energy Access and Infrastructure

Mupita emphasised that abundant and reliable electricity is the foundation for technological progress. Citing the International Energy Agency (IEA), he said Africa’s energy and climate-related goals will require over $200 billion in annual investment by 2030 to support sustainable economic expansion.

2. Digital Infrastructure

Africa currently accounts for less than two per cent of global data centre capacity, a gap Mupita described as alarming. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the continent needs $96 billion by 2030 to bridge its digital infrastructure deficit.
He stressed that investment must extend beyond subsea cables and fibre optics to include robust data storage and processing systems critical for AI development.

3. Local AI Language Models

With more than 2,000 distinct African languages, fewer than two per cent are represented in major large language models (LLMs), limiting Africa’s ability to build AI tools that reflect local realities.
Mupita commended initiatives such as the Nigerian Atlas for Languages & AI at Scale, an open-source multilingual LLM that captures Nigeria’s linguistic diversity, as steps in the right direction.

4. Digital and AI Skills Development

Mupita underscored the urgency of equipping Africa’s rapidly growing youth population with digital skills, noting that the continent is expected to produce the world’s largest workforce by 2050.

“We must ensure that new jobs and augmented jobs exceed those displaced by technology, particularly for the youth,” he said.
Sub-Saharan Africa, he added, could generate 230 million digital jobs by 2030 if governments and the private sector invest in education and training.

5. Sectoral Application of AI

He urged African governments to deploy AI in high-impact sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture — areas that can deliver measurable improvements in productivity, service delivery, and social inclusion. Combining traditional AI with generative AI, he said, will be crucial to maximising outcomes.

6. Strategic Partnerships

Mupita concluded by stressing the importance of collaboration among governments, private sector players, and civil society to create policies, governance frameworks, and ethical standards that support Africa’s AI-driven future.

“Turning Africa into a creator, not just a consumer, of AI requires immediate action and collective effort,” he stated.

Mupita’s remarks come amid growing global competition in AI innovation, with African leaders under pressure to align policy, infrastructure, and education with the accelerating pace of digital transformation.

Experts say MTN’s position reflects a broader call for African-led AI ecosystems — built on local talent, data sovereignty, and inclusive growth — to ensure the continent is not left behind in the next industrial revolution.