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AFROTECH RESEARCH · FREE REPORT

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A closer look at Africa’s overlooked problems and AI opportunities.

RESEARCH

Data.
Insights.
Real Impact.

We identify Africa’s most important, overlooked problems, the data behind them, and the opportunities to turn them into transformative AI ventures.

WHY RESEARCH

Africa’s
next breakthroughs
will be data-driven.

We conduct deep, practical research to uncover real problems, real data and real opportunities — so we can build and back AI solutions that are uniquely African, scalable and globally relevant.

Identify
untapped data

Find valuable, underused data across Africa.

Spot real
opportunities

Turn challenges into buildable ventures.

Inform our
ventures

Use insights to design, validate and scale solutions.

Share
knowledge

Contribute to a growing body of research on Africa’s AI potential.

OUR RESEARCH FOCUS

From problems to possibilities.

We explore critical areas where Africa’s data, needs and realities can unlock transformative AI solutions.

African logistics and mobility.

Infrastructure &
Public Services

Roads, energy, water, urban systems and governance.

African market and SME commerce.

Financial Inclusion

SMEs, informal economy, credit, payments and economic identity.

African workforce and skills.

Human Development

Education, health, child welfare and social protection.

African farmer and food systems.

Climate & Natural
Resources

Agriculture, environment, land use and resilience.

Entrepreneur overlooking an African city.

Digital Economies

Work, skills, content, commerce and the creative economy.

KEY INSIGHTS

A continent
full of untapped
opportunity.

Across Africa, high-impact problems already have data, local knowledge and demand that could become transformative AI solutions. Our research connects those realities to practical opportunities for infrastructure and ventures.

RESEARCH AGENDA · TARGETS

50+

high-potential
problems to map

100+

data sources
to identify

7

initial venture
opportunities to explore

“Africa’s greatest opportunities are not in copying what already exists, but in unlocking the value hidden in its own data, knowledge and realities.”

AFROTECH FOR GOOD

WORK WITH US

Research.
Build. Scale.
Together.

We collaborate with governments, research institutions, foundations, investors and founders to turn research into real-world solutions.

Governments

Data partnerships and public solutions.

Researchers

Collaborative studies and open knowledge.

Investors

Explore emerging venture opportunities.

Founders

Co-create and scale transformative ventures.

WORKING NOTES · RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENT

Questions worth pursuing.

We are developing a problem-led research agenda across infrastructure, financial inclusion, human development, climate and digital economies. Each opportunity will be examined through its problem, available data, data rights, potential users and route to local value creation.

The 50-problem report is in development. This page does not yet present completed findings or a downloadable report.

Research direction: how public budget and development-project data could support clearer visibility into spending, locations and project delivery. We will distinguish published allocations from actual expenditure and identify where further data access is required.

Research direction: how everyday economic activity could support more inclusive financial identity. The work considers data quality, consent, privacy, access and the limits of using fragmented records to understand economic potential.

Research direction: how familiar messaging tools can make AI services accessible. We explore community contributions, small-business coordination and interfaces that meet people where they already communicate.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

The next transformative
African company may
already be an idea.
Let’s build it.

Monochrome African highlands with acacia trees and mist.