Will Ethiopia Miss the AI Wave? GSMA Report Warns of Talent and Tech Gaps

As the rapid development of AI shakes up the world, Ethiopia’s prospective deployment of use cases and prevailing setbacks were examined by a comprehensive new study. The report from GSMA, one of the first in-depth studies focused on AI in Ethiopia, offers insights on how prepared the country is to tap into AI’s potential.

The 70-page report, unveiled this week, outlines six priority areas for AI adoption: finance, healthcare, agriculture, government services, education, and digital inclusion, with an emphasis on local language solutions. However, poor data availability, weak infrastructure, regulatory gaps, limited computing power, and a shortage of skilled human resources remain critical barriers.

Launched at the inaugural UK-Ethiopia AI Forum at the British Embassy, the report finds that Ethiopia’s AI ecosystem, driven mainly by state-led efforts with a mix of international actors and emerging firms, remains relatively nascent, with limited diversity and maturity.

The study identified 60 key AI actors in Ethiopia, from startups like iCog Labs and Garri Logistics to ecosystem enablers and government agencies such as the Prime Minister’s Office. It also mapped research and academic institutes, as well as data and infrastructure providers like Ethio Telecom.

Yet, unlike other African nations, Ethiopia has yet to attract global tech giants such as Google’s AI research lab in Ghana, IBM’s labs in Kenya and South Africa, or Microsoft’s AI for Good Labs in Kenya and Egypt. Coincidingly, international actors, such as development organizations and development finance institutions (DFIs), are helping address critical gaps, particularly in funding. The reliance on donor funding simultaneously introduces opportunities and risks of maladaptive dependence.

Eugenie Humeau, the report’s author and a contributor to similar studies in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa stated the existence of a set of shared limitations in data, computing power and skills among all four countries. Nonetheless, she noted the lack of diversity between actors in the ecosystem, with Ethiopia’s AI development being predominantly state led.

The report, labels the Artificial Intelligence Institute, launched five years ago by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), a key driver of AI in Ethiopia. However, much of the institute’s collaboration has remained within government circles, with limited outreach to the broader public.

Gashena Worku (PhD), Director General of the Institute, recalled that the Institute is a member of the Digital Council and contributes its AI tools to advance the country’s digital ambitions. He noted that AI will play a significant role in data processing and analysis for the Fayda project, Ethiopia’s national digital ID initiative.

“We assist all government institutions, as we are a member of the Digital Council,” Gashena told Shega.

The Director General highlighted the development of its AI-powered breast cancer detection tool as one of the Agency’s achievements. This tool uses ML algorithms to analyze mammograms from facilities, enabling early and accurate detection of breast cancer.

Ethiopia is set to conclude its five-year digital Ethiopia initiative this year, which entailed comprehensive digitization across the public sector. As the government readies to launch the project’s second iteration, which extends until 2030, there are pending regulatory shifts still in the works. Key among these legislative shakeups is the set of directives to enable the effective implementation of the personal data proclamation, which is critical for AI development. 

The Director General says the processing and usage of data should always be bolstered by strong regulatory frameworks. He pointed out that the clear benefits from data processing could become a source of problems without an adequate supervisory apparatus. 

“Using personal data for any purpose outside the expressed consent of the owner is criminal and unethical,” Gashena noted. 

The UK-Ethiopia AI forum served as a platform that gathered several stakeholders in the country‘s budding ecosystem, including some foreign investors. Notably, management from Kagool, a global data, analytics, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) specialist firm, attended the forum. The Company, which leverages AI to develop tech solutions across health and public serves, has recently established a foothold in Ethiopia.

“We have opened an office at the ICT Park and hired around 20 people,” Prashant Patel, Group CTPO & COO at Kagool, told Shega.

Kagool is currently working with the United Arab Emirates government to digitize a host of government services. The UK-based firm, established in 2004, eyes several potential use cases in the public and private sectors across Ethiopia

“We are exploring how AI can drive the adoption of the National Digital ID, as well as enhance digital financial services, telecom, and aviation,” the Group CTO noted

In addition to forming partnerships with local private players, Kagool’s mid-term vision includes bringing offshore jobs to Ethiopia. Prashant indicated the necessity of building a strong talent pipeline in the first few years to create a strong foundation

“We aim to make Addis our operational base for serving Africa,” Prashant said.

The Report also sees a strong potential to build a robust AI talent pool. Multiple universities across Ethiopia are offering AI and related programs. Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU), for example, hosts the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Centre, which provides MSc and PhD courses, as well as workshops and training programs.

Private-sector initiatives are also helping to boost AI skills development. These include Kifiya Financial Technology and 10 Academy’s fully funded AI Mastery Training Program, as well as a recent partnership between Microsoft and Gebeya to upskill developers across eight African countries, including Ethiopia.

However, limited access to cutting-edge equipment, including robotics materials and computing infrastructure, affects the quality of the programme and research outputs.

Financial regulations limiting the ability of firms to pay in local currency are also highlighted as another issue compounding the challenges for AI operators in the country, according to the report. One tech entrepreneur was quoted bemoaning the price of computers, which cost nearly three times their international prices because of local import duties. 

Moreover, the report identifies a more concerning trend in the local AI job market, where graduates struggle to find opportunities and often turn to remote work as an alternative. The local market remains underdeveloped and offers limited competitive salaries, contributing to a brain drain as talented developers seek more rewarding opportunities abroad.

In terms of infrastructure and computing capacity, Ethiopia is seeing rapid growth, spurred by substantial public and private investments. Around nine data centers have become operational in recent years.

Still, according to the report, capacity remains insufficient. Existing facilities focus mainly on co-location services, which, while essential, do not meet the broader needs for high-performance computing (HPC) and data processing power required for advanced AI applications.

The report identifies several promising use cases for AI in Ethiopia, including adaptive and personalized learning in education, alternative credit scoring, disease prediction and detection in healthcare, data-driven advisory services in agriculture, and dataset crowdsourcing for small language models. One such example is Leyu, a platform developed by iCog to provide high-quality datasets for low-resource languages using a crowdsourcing model.