AI could pass Africa's poor by, World Bank warns
Developer numbers are soaring in Nigeria and Ghana, but only 12% of the poorest households in 19 countries have both a phone and electricity, the bank's latest Africa report says.
Abidjan — Artificial intelligence could expand Africa's digital economy and reduce poverty, but its benefits risk bypassing the poor, the World Bank has warned in its October 2026 Africa Economic Update, as reported by Daba Finance.
The bank says the gains "risk being concentrated among highly educated workers, formal firms, and wealthier urban households". Farmers, informal businesses, schools and clinics in underserved areas could be left out.
Signs of rapid uptake
The report points to fast growth among people who build software. Nigeria's base of developers on GitHub, the code-sharing platform, has expanded tenfold since 2020. Ghana recorded a nearly eightfold increase in developers after free AI coding assistants became available.
The barriers
Access is the obstacle. Across 19 African countries, only 12% of the poorest households have both a phone and electricity, compared with 54% in the wealthiest fifth of households.
Cost is another. Mobile data packages cost about twice the United Nations' affordability target, which is 2% of average monthly income.
The bank's argument is that AI tools are of little use to a household without power, a device, affordable data and the skills to use them, and that these gaps follow existing lines of income and geography.
The findings echo a wider debate on the continent about whether the technology will create work or deepen inequality. Governments including Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana have published or are drafting national AI strategies.
This report is based on reporting by Daba Finance, via AllAfrica.
