By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE
NAIROBI, Kenya – East Africa’s ambitious drive to assert digital sovereignty, strengthen critical infrastructure, and shape its own artificial intelligence future officially commenced today with the launch of AI EVERYTHING KENYA X GITEX KENYA, the region’s largest technology and AI event.
Organised by inD, the global organiser of GITEX events, in partnership with the Office of the Special Envoy on Technology of the Republic of Kenya, the inaugural event is taking place from 19–21 May 2026 across Nairobi’s Sarit Expo Centre and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The opening day featured the INCLUSIVE AI EVERYTHING SUMMIT, a landmark regional gathering bringing together government leaders, global institutions, investors, and technology pioneers to develop a new AI framework aligned with Africa’s economic ambitions, diversity, and innovation potential.
Opening the summit, Ambassador Philip Thigo, Special Envoy for Technology in the Office of the President of Kenya, described AI as a transformative economic agenda rather than simply an ICT issue.
“Africa’s role in AI must be articulated as an investment agenda. AI is not about ICT; AI is literally AI everything,” Thigo said. “The continent still lags behind in AI infrastructure, connectivity, and energy, but we possess everything around artificial intelligence — from green minerals and data to talent, emerging compute infrastructure, and innovation opportunities.”
He added that Africa is ready to shape the future of AI through investment, infrastructure development, and globally competitive innovation ecosystems.
“The Silicon Savanna has come of age,” he stated. “Africa is open for business, open for investment, and ready to shape the future of artificial intelligence.”
The summit attracted more than 400 C-suite executives, technology leaders, investors, and senior government officials from across Africa and beyond. Discussions focused on accelerating AI integration across key sectors including agriculture, finance, healthcare, energy, education, cybersecurity, climate resilience, ecommerce, and trade.
Speakers repeatedly stressed that AI development in Africa must remain accessible, inclusive, and tailored to local realities.
Dr. Nkundwe Mwasaga, Director General of the Tanzania ICT Commission, said regional collaboration would be critical in ensuring East Africa’s successful AI-driven transformation.
“The outcomes of interactions here will translate the transformative potential of AI into gains in East African businesses, industries, and economies,” Mwasaga said. “However, our region must work together with international partners to strengthen digital skills, security and trust, telecommunication services, economic development, and research and innovation.”
One of the summit’s central discussions, titled Digital Sovereignty for the AI Age: Control Without Isolation, explored how East African countries can maintain control over AI systems and data without disconnecting from global innovation ecosystems.
Panelists highlighted the growing importance of local compute infrastructure, strategic datasets, interoperable regulations, and renewable-powered data centres in building sovereign AI ecosystems.
Snehar Shah, CEO of iXAfrica Data Centres, said Kenya is strategically positioned to become a regional AI infrastructure hub.
“Kenya is very well positioned. We have pragmatic regulation, strong data protection frameworks, renewable power, and we are now bringing hyperscale cloud infrastructure into the country,” Shah noted. “We have established the foundations to make AI available locally for enterprises and consumers.”
Senthil Kumar, Personal Systems Technology and AI Specialist at HP Middle East, emphasised that digital sovereignty extends beyond data localisation.
“It is no longer just about where the data sits,” Kumar explained. “It is about who controls the data, who controls the AI, and where the compute happens. Organisations should not have to choose between innovation and control.”
Another key session, National AI Strategy and Readiness, powered by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), examined the need for coordinated AI policies, institutional preparedness, and skills development across African nations.
Dr. Lourinho Chamane, Chairman of Mozambique’s National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (INTIC), stressed the importance of developing local AI capacity and African language models.
“Countries should not only be consumers of AI products and services, but also producers and contributors to the digital economy,” Chamane said. “Developing small language models that support local languages is essential for digital inclusion.”
Commercial AI deployment also emerged as a major focus area, with speakers noting that Africa’s projected US$16.5 billion AI market by 2030 will depend on the region’s ability to scale AI solutions from pilot projects into commercially viable enterprises.
During the session Commercialising Local AI: From Pilots to Products, Winnie Mangeni, Founder and CEO of PAWA AI, highlighted the rapid growth of African-focused AI innovation.
“East Africa is not waiting to be a consumer of AI; it is actively building the infrastructure, talent, and policy frameworks to lead,” Mangeni said. “The opportunity now is to connect investors, builders, and policymakers around practical AI applications that solve real problems at African scale.”
The event also marked another milestone in the global expansion of the GITEX network, which now hosts technology and startup events in 14 cities across six continents.
Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of the global organiser of GITEX, said East Africa has the potential to become a globally competitive AI and infrastructure powerhouse.
“AI is no longer simply a technology shift; it represents a new geopolitical and economic restructuring,” LohMirmand said. “East Africa has already demonstrated its ability to leapfrog industries through digital innovation, and now has the opportunity to build sovereign AI capabilities across cloud, compute, talent, investment, and research.”
She added that international collaboration would be essential in ensuring emerging markets fully participate in the global AI economy.
AI EVERYTHING KENYA X GITEX KENYA continues on Wednesday with the AI EVERYTHING KENYA EXPO at KICC, where global technology companies, infrastructure providers, investors, and regional innovators will showcase cross-sector AI solutions and emerging technologies shaping Africa’s digital future.
