How Africa Can Own AI: From Talent to Infrastructure to Global Competitiveness with Amadou Daffe

Episode 217 of the Unlocking Africa Podcast with Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co founder of Gebeya, a leading pan African technology company building talent ecosystems, digital marketplaces, and AI powered platforms to unlock Africa’s global competitiveness.As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, a critical question is emerging: will Africa simply consume AI tools built elsewhere, or will it build, own, and capture value from AI within the continent?Amadou shares how Gebeya’s latest platform, Gebeya Dala, developed in partnership with Cassava Technologies, is helping African entrepreneurs, creators, and SMEs move from using AI to building AI driven products. From enabling users to turn ideas into fully functional applications in real time to teaching non technical founders how to think in workflows, systems, and logic, this conversation explores how Africa can transition from an AI consumer to an AI creator and exporter.We also explore the concept of sovereign AI infrastructure in Africa, including the importance of local compute, data ownership, and digital infrastructure in shaping long term economic growth. Amadou explains why the future of Africa’s digital economy will depend not just on access to AI tools, but on ownership of the platforms, systems, and infrastructure that power them.What We Discuss With AmadouWhy Africa risks exporting the value of its creative and digital economy in the age of AI, and who ultimately captures the revenue, data, and intellectual propertyMoving beyond prompt engineering to structured thinking, and why workflows, logic, and systems are becoming the highest value skills for African foundersHow platforms like Gebeya Dala are enabling non technical entrepreneurs to build real products and scalable businesses, not just prototypesWhat sovereign AI infrastructure means in practice, and why local compute, data ownership, and partnerships like Cassava Technologies are critical for Africa’s competitivenessThe emergence of AI native roles across Africa, and how freelancers, creatives, and SMEs can start capturing income and building globally competitive businesses todayDid you miss my previous episode where I discuss How Precision Medicine and Genomics Could Transform Healthcare in Africa? Make sure to check it out!Connect with Terser:LinkedIn - Terser AdamuInstagram - unlockingafricaTwitter (X) - @TerserAdamuConnect with Amadou:LinkedIn - Amadou አማዱ Daffe and Gebeya IncWebsite - www.gebeya.comMany of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group:[email protected]