Maxwell Gomera, resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) South Africa
Africa’s young innovators are not waiting for handouts, they are already creating solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges. However, without systems that allow these innovations to grow, their potential will remain untapped.
Speaking at the fourth annual Future of Work Dialogue, hosted by the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW) in Pretoria last week, Maxwell Gomera, resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) South Africa, said Africa’s youth are ready to lead transformation, but need enabling environments to thrive.
“Across the African continent, young people are solving urgent problems. They are not asking for handouts, but they are asking for systems that recognise their value and allow innovation to scale,” Gomera said.
He stressed that the question is no longer whether Africa is thriving, but rather whether the continent is building systems that enable young talent to transform economies. “As we discuss AI and the future of work, that question becomes more urgent,” he said. “AI offers us unprecedented opportunities, but only if we are able to confront the policy challenges that stand in our way.”
Gomera noted that one of the biggest challenges is that many governments are still “playing catch-up” with the fast-paced development of artificial intelligence (AI). “It’s a tough time to be a regulator. AI is developing so rapidly that policymakers are always chasing and trying to catch up.”
See also
However, he said there are choices governments can make now to reduce barriers and prepare for AI-driven economies. The first step, he explained, is to lower the “transaction costs” of innovation across Africa.
“Why does a young engineer in Silicon Valley innovate faster than one in Johannesburg or Nairobi?” he asked. “It’s not because Africans are less intelligent. It’s because the transaction costs of innovating across the continent are far too high.”
Across the African continent, young people are solving urgent problems. They are not asking for handouts, but they are asking for systems that recognise their value and allow innovation to scale.
Maxwell Gomera, UNDP South Africa.
While innovators in Silicon Valley can easily test ideas using affordable prototyping tools, cloud access, and supportive regulations, African innovators face structural barriers, from limited access to GPUs and data centres to restrictive procurement systems that exclude start-ups.
To address this, Gomera highlighted UNDP’s “Timbuktu” initiative, a pan-African effort aimed at building innovation infrastructure to scale across the continent. “In Silicon Valley, innovation hubs show what happens when you remove these barriers. Young innovators gain access to machines, 3D printers, design software, and most importantly, ecosystems of mentorship,” he said.
Rethinking data sovereignty
As AI becomes more central to national competitiveness, Gomera said African countries must balance data sovereignty with efficiency. He warned that building separate data centres in every country is unsustainable due to energy and capital constraints.
“A large data centre can consume as much energy as thousands of households. Not every country has the energy capacity or expertise to sustain one. So, either we don’t deploy AI at all, and fall behind, or we rely entirely on foreign tech companies, and lose our sovereignty anyway.”
To bridge this gap, Gomera proposed the idea of “data embassies”, shared data infrastructure across countries governed by legal agreements protecting sovereignty.
“Just as an embassy is legally the territory of its home country, data stored in an AI factory abroad could remain under the originating nation’s jurisdiction. If Rwanda’s data is processed in Kenya under such an agreement, it will still be protected by Rwandan law. Both countries benefit, sovereignty is preserved, and costs are contained,” Gomera explained.
He called on African institutions such as the African Union (AU) and SADC to explore frameworks for cross-border data cooperation, arguing that regional collaboration is key to Africa’s digital future.
AI deployment must inclusive
Gomera also cautioned against deploying AI indiscriminately. “AI is expensive, and one data centre can consume energy meant for tens of thousands of households. We must be strategic about where and how we deploy it.”
He proposed that countries focus on sectors where they already have a competitive edge, such as FinTech in Kenya, agriculture in Ghana, mining in South Africa, and the creative economy in Nigeria, to maximise the impact of AI investment.
Equally crucial, he said, is building the necessary human capital. “China graduates 1.4 million engineers every year; the United States about 100 000; and across Africa, we’re doing well if we reach 40 000,” Gomera said. “We simply don’t have enough people to drive the AI economy.”
He urged universities and policymakers to prioritise engineering and data science education, align curricula with industry needs, and ensure that AI serves Africa’s development priorities rather than external interests.
“Ecosystems do not emerge from white papers. This is our moment to move from diagnosis to action, to develop the ecosystems ourselves.”
As South Africa prepares to host the G20 Summit in November, Gomera said the continent has a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reshape the global narrative about Africa’s digital future.
His message was clear: Africa’s young innovators are ready — but governments, institutions, and policymakers must create the frameworks, infrastructure, and ecosystems that enable them to lead the continent into the AI era.
“We need to scale our innovation infrastructure within the next 12 months,” he urged. “Every research university should have a fully equipped innovation hub connected to industry, procurement, and capital markets. The blueprint is already there, now we must act.”
