Resources & Documentation
AI Talent Readiness Index for Africa
The AI Talent Readiness Index is a comprehensive assessment of AI preparedness across all 54 African countries. It evaluates three key pillars: Digital Skills (40%), Data & Infrastructure (35%), and Government Readiness (25%).
Key findings reveal South Africa leading overall with 52.15 points, followed by Tunisia and Egypt (both 51.8). Rwanda excels in Government Readiness, while Tunisia leads in Data & Infrastructure. Significant regional disparities exist, with North African nations generally performing better due to EU partnerships and stable governance.
Methodology Overview
Digital Skills (40%)
Evaluates foundational and specialized capabilities necessary for engaging with AI technologies. Includes educational attainment, technical capacity, workforce diversity, and labor market dynamics.
Data & Infrastructure (35%)
Measures technological foundations that enable AI development and deployment, including physical infrastructure, digital access, data environments, and technical investments.
Government Readiness (25%)
Examines policy and regulatory environments that shape AI talent development, including strategic planning, implementation capacity, innovation support, and data protection frameworks.
Strategic Recommendations
Continent-wide AI Education
Establish an initiative inclusive of curriculum development targeting youth at all levels of education, to meet the needs of learners and increase AI education opportunities across the continent.
Collaborative Training Targets
Each Signatory State commits to train over 15% of its population on AI awareness by 2028, building towards over 200 million people trained across the African continent.
Higher Education Transformation
Ensure over 30 higher learning institutions adapt curricula to provide state-of-the-art AI skills, establishing the capacity to train 5,000 PhD researchers across Africa.
Specialized Training Pathways
Develop programs on AI literacy, advanced machine learning, technical training, entrepreneurship, specialized research, and governance to produce 1 million AI practitioners.
About This Study
The AI Talent Readiness Index is a flagship initiative under the Catalyzing Africa's AI Leadership project, supported by the Gates Foundation. This project addresses critical barriers to AI adoption across Africa—including talent gaps, limited institutional capacity, and fragmented policy frameworks—through four strategic pillars:
Capacity Building
AI 101 Masterclasses equip policymakers with technical and ethical insights to design AI-driven policies in healthcare, agriculture, and education.
Talent Development
The AI Talent Readiness Index maps skills gaps and infrastructure needs, guiding investments to build a workforce capable of advancing AI innovation.
Access to Compute Resources
Distributed computing systems provide startups and researchers with affordable, scalable computational power to accelerate AI development.
Policy Leadership
Ministerial Roundtables foster cross-border collaboration, positioning Africa as a unified voice in global AI governance and ethical standards.
Research Resources
Digital Skills Resources
Data & Infrastructure Resources
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
This AI Talent Readiness Index report was produced by Qubit Hub and Qhala under the leadership of Dr. Shikoh Gitau (PhD), CEO of Qhala, with generous support from the Gates Foundation. The report was authored by Joshua Baru, Digital Economy Researcher at Qhala, and benefited from contributions by David Lemayian of Qubit Hub/QTrust; William Munguti, Mitchelle Ogolla, Keith Mbae, Joan Kurgat, Alex Ombongi, and Viola Konji, AI & Data Scientists at Qhala; as well as Charity Moses and Charity Munsaka, Research Assistants at Qhala. The dashboard was designed and developed by Samuel Mwangi and Chadwig Otieno.
For data inquiries or to provide feedback on the report, please contact info@qhala.com
