OpenAI, in partnership with ALX and the Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS), is set to convene a high-level Artificial Intelligence (AI) Leadership Forum in Addis Ababa on 17 February 2026, bringing together policymakers, business leaders, technologists, start-ups, and educators for a focused discussion on Africa’s place in the rapidly evolving AI economy. The evening forum will take place at the ALX Capstone Tech Hub in Lideta, on the margins of the African Union Summit Week.
Organizers say the Addis forum reflects a growing urgency around how AI is being shaped, governed, and adopted on the continent. As AI shifts from an emerging technology to foundational infrastructure, the central question is no longer whether African countries will adopt it, but whether they are prepared to build, govern, and benefit from it.
“Africa enters this moment with a unique demographic advantage,” the organizers noted in a joint statement, pointing to the continent’s young population, which will enter the workforce in an AI-first world. Aligning skills development, infrastructure investment, and policy frameworks early, they argue, will be critical to ensuring that this generation not only uses AI tools but also contributes to their design and deployment.
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