By Shameel Joosub

For centuries, Africa has powered global economic growth through its resources, labour, and human potential, yet too little of that prosperity has been realised on the continent itself. Today, artificial intelligence presents a rare opportunity to change that trajectory.

As the global economic order undergoes its most significant transformation since the end of the Second World War, Africa stands at a decisive inflection point.

With the world’s youngest population, rapidly expanding digital adoption, and vast untapped potential, Africa is uniquely positioned not just to participate in the AI era, but to help shape it.

Realising this opportunity, however, will require deliberate investment, enabling regulation, and a commitment to ensuring that the benefits of AI reach all 1.5 billion people across the continent.

When I reflect on AI, what strikes me most is that it is enabled by humanity.

Intelligence is fundamentally human, and AI is an extraordinary amplifier of human creativity and capability.

It is not about replacing people. It is about empowering them to do more, faster, and better.

While this progress is remarkable, our responsibility as African businesses is to extend these capabilities beyond our corporate walls so that AI can unlock Africa’s underutilised potential and drive inclusive growth.

Unlocking Africa’s Potential Across Industries

As a purpose-led African connectivity and digital services company serving 223.2 million customers across South Africa, the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Tanzania, Vodacom has invested strategically in AI across multiple sectors.

Our mobile networks reach a population of 588 million people. That reach must translate into opportunity.

Consider agriculture. One of our subsidiary companies, Mezzanine, leverages AI to unlock previously invisible insights into soil composition, empowering farmers to make data-driven decisions that improve crop yields and profitability.

When farmers thrive, food security strengthens and rural communities prosper. That is inclusive growth in action.

In financial services, AI is strengthening trust and security. In Kenya, Graph Network Analytics enhances M-Pesa fraud detection by mapping money movements in real time, helping protect more than 37 million customers who rely on the service in their daily lives.

As criminals target digital payment platforms, AI helps predict and prevent fraud scenarios, including SIM swap fraud and identity theft.

AI is also supporting national infrastructure. In South Africa, connectivity and IoT solutions monitor coal transport in real time from pit to port to power station.

This improves operational efficiency and supports energy security, addressing critical infrastructure challenges that have constrained economic growth.

These are not isolated examples. They represent a broader truth. Technology delivers its greatest value when it solves real problems for real people.

The Infrastructure Imperative: Modernising Regulation

Yet none of this is possible without one fundamental prerequisite: connectivity. Connectivity requires sustained investment in infrastructure, supportive policy environments, and regulatory frameworks that enable innovation.

If Africa is serious about universal access, modern and enabling regulation is essential. Spectrum licensing must be efficient and predictable. Infrastructure sharing must be supported. Universal service funds must be effectively deployed. Administrative barriers to infrastructure rollout must be reduced. Cloud and data platforms, which power AI capabilities, must be supported through enabling policy environments. These are not peripheral issues. They are fundamental to accelerating Africa’s digital and economic transformation.

These challenges represent only a portion of the regulatory barriers that must be addressed to deliver affordable, reliable connectivity to all Africans.

Pan-African Coordination: Our Collective Responsibility

Africa’s greatest advantage is its youth, but demographics alone will not deliver growth. To realise this potential, we must actively skill up young people in our schools and universities so they can take full advantage of an AI-driven future.

That requires modernising education curricula to embed AI literacy, data capability and practical problem-solving at scale. Companies like Vodacom are investing in digital skills development, but unlocking Africa’s potential will require coordinated action across government, academia and industry.

This is why governments and intergovernmental institutions such as the African Development Bank Group, the African Union, SADC, ECOWAS, and other regional bodies play a critical role in harmonising regulatory frameworks across the continent. Greater coordination can accelerate investment, enable scale, and support the development of an integrated digital economy.

Pan-African alignment of telecommunications regulation is not merely a technical objective. It is essential to unlocking inclusive growth and ensuring that Africa can compete effectively in the global digital economy.

Our Moment

Africa has long contributed to global progress. In the AI era, it has the opportunity to define its own future as a creator of innovation, productivity, and inclusive growth. The foundations are already in place. Our young population, expanding connectivity, and accelerating digital adoption position the continent to lead in ways that were not previously possible.

But this outcome is not guaranteed. It depends on the choices we make now. By modernising regulation, investing in connectivity as foundational infrastructure, and ensuring that AI empowers individuals, businesses, and communities, Africa can secure its place as a central force in the global digital economy.

That is the Africa I believe in. That is the Africa we are building at Vodacom, connecting people, enabling opportunity, and ensuring that technology serves the progress of society as a whole

Shameel Joosub, is group Chief Executive Officer, Vodacom Group

Source: Tech Africa News

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new baseline standards requiring banks and other financial institutions to deploy automated anti-money laundering systems capable of detecting suspicious transactions and financial fraud risks in real time.

The directive, contained in a circular released yesterday, mandates banks, mobile money operators, international money transfer operators and other regulated institutions to implement automated solutions that strengthen monitoring, detection and reporting of suspicious financial activities.

According to the apex bank, the framework establishes minimum technical, governance and operational standards for automated systems used to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing within Nigeria’s financial system.

CBN said the move was necessary as the financial services sector becomes increasingly digital and complex, making manual monitoring methods inadequate for managing evolving financial crime risks.

Under the new framework, deposit money banks (DMBs) are expected to achieve full compliance within 18 months from the date of issuance, while other financial institutions will have 24 months to comply.

Institutions are also required to submit detailed implementation roadmaps to the CBN’s compliance department within three months.

The standards apply to all institutions operating under the CBN’s regulatory purview, although the depth and sophistication of implementation will depend on each institution’s size, transaction volumes, operational complexity and risk exposure.

The framework outlines several minimum capabilities that automated anti-money laundering (AML) systems must possess, including customer identification and verification, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and case management for suspicious activities.

Financial institutions are also expected to ensure their systems integrate customer data with transaction patterns so that suspicious behaviour can be assessed in the context of a customer’s risk profile.

The CBN said institutions should strengthen identity verification processes by integrating onboarding systems with national databases such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) platforms to support real-time identity checks.

The framework permits the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the detection of unusual financial patterns.

However, the regulator said such technologies must operate under strict governance frameworks, including independent validation and human oversight.

Institutions deploying AI-based monitoring models will be required to conduct periodic validation to ensure accuracy, reliability and fairness in the detection of suspicious transactions.

The standards also require financial institutions to maintain secure data protection controls, including encryption, role-based access and multi-factor authentication, in compliance with Nigeria’s data protection regulations.

In addition, the systems are to maintain comprehensive audit trails of transactions, alerts, investigations and system activities to support regulatory supervision and forensic investigations.

The CBN said compliance with the framework will be monitored through off-site surveillance, on-site examinations and thematic reviews, warning that institutions that fail to implement the standards may face regulatory sanctions under existing banking and financial crime laws.

Federal government of Nigeria has announced plans to connect schools across the country to reliable internet services as part of a major initiative aimed at strengthening digital learning and expanding access to modern educational tools.

The government said the programme will help equip students with the digital skills needed to thrive in a technology-driven global economy while ensuring that every Nigerian child has access to quality education comparable to global standards.

The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by Folasade Boriowo, director of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education Nigeria.

According to the statement President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed Tunji Alausa, minister of Education, and Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, to work together to implement the nationwide connectivity project.

Speaking during a high level meeting with stakeholders in Abuja, Alausa explained that the initiative builds on earlier connectivity efforts through the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN), which previously supported broadband connectivity for tertiary institutions under a World Bank-funded project.

He noted that although the programme initially recorded significant progress in connecting universities and other tertiary institutions, the momentum slowed after the initial funding cycle ended, making a renewed and expanded strategy necessary.

The minister said the new effort aims to revive and strengthen the programme while extending connectivity across all levels of the education sector.

“Connectivity is not limited to broadband fibre alone. It also involves telecommunications towers, satellite systems and other digital infrastructure required to provide reliable internet access across the country,” Alausa said.

He revealed that the government is implementing major connectivity projects, including the deployment of about 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic broadband infrastructure, the installation of 3,700 telecommunications towers, especially in rural and underserved communities, and the expansion of satellite capacity to improve nationwide coverage.

According to him, the goal is to ensure that schools from primary to tertiary institutions are deliberately connected as broadband cables are deployed and towers installed across the country.

Alausa also said the meeting produced several concrete steps to accelerate connectivity within the education sector, including the expansion of the NgREN governing council to include representatives responsible for foundational and secondary education.

Two technical working groups have also been established to drive implementation one focusing on connectivity for tertiary institutions and another dedicated to foundational and secondary schools.

He expressed optimism that the first phase of the initiative would begin to deliver visible improvements within the next three months.

The minister added that improved connectivity would enable students and teachers to access digital learning platforms, global knowledge resources, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).

He further disclosed that the project would support the gradual transition of major national examinations to Computer-Based Testing (CBT), with plans for exams conducted by West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) to fully adopt CBT within the next two to three years, similar to the system currently used by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Also speaking, Tijani emphasized that technology-driven education cannot succeed without reliable internet connectivity.

He noted that although Nigeria hosts about eight international submarine internet cables the highest number in Africa the challenge lies in distributing that capacity inland through fibre networks capable of reaching communities nationwide.

“Most of the internet capacity enters Nigeria through submarine cables landing in Lagos, but without sufficient inland fibre infrastructure, that capacity cannot effectively reach schools and communities across the country,” he said.

Both ministers reaffirmed the government’s commitment to collaboration between the education and communications sectors to ensure that investments in digital infrastructure translate into improved learning outcomes for Nigerian students.