further elevated the demand for computing pow- er. Digital infrastructure for AI encompasses hard- ware and software elements that provide a wide range of capabilities including but not limited to data storage and management, cloud computing, sufficient computational power, fast and robust communication networks, reliable electricity/ power connections, security and privacy of infra- structure, scalability and flexibility, programming languages and AI system development tools, op- erating systems, virtualization, and business intel- ligence tools (Kuleto et al. 2021; Arakpogun et al. 2021; van Buren, Chew, and Eggers 2020; Sinde et al. 2023) All these components are required for unlocking the full potential of AI, driving innova- tion, addressing complex challenges in the coun- try and eventually providing effective socio-eco- nomic development. There are currently several initiatives under way in Africa, for instance African countries are adopt- ing digital strategies to create an enabling en- vironment for digitalization. Private sector firms including companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, are investing in African data cen- ters, rapidly expanding Africa’s hosting capacity even as they provide customers with data-relat- ed services such as cloud computing and stor- age—especially in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. For example, the Government estab- lished the Tanzania National Internet Data Center (NIDC) to not only provide scalable storage and compute resources, but also gives Tanzanian en- tities access to stacks of AI and Machine Learning services which are constantly updated, there- by eliminating the need to write many of these services from scratch. The country has attracted investments in public data centers also from the private sector which in turn has resulted in licens- ing of more public data centers so as to provide access to computing resources which are useful to process complex algorithms, run applications, and analyze large datasets in real-time. Overall, African country’s main objective is to have robust and reliable digital infrastructure for a safe and secure foundation for AI development and use. The following are some of the initiatives done in
Africa (bidin A 2017; Bank 2021; On et al. 2022; URT 2021; 2023; “The United Republic of Tanza- nia) Tanzania Mainland” 2016).
A. Boosting Local Investments in Data Centers
As part of the African countries initiatives towards supporting cloud computing services, the coun- tries have established state-of-art tier-3 Data Cen- ters which has been connected to the National ICT Backbone with the support of international submarine cables making it a strategic hub for East Africa and beyond. The data center has been able to serve both public and private institutions in the country. For example, by December, 2023, Tanzania had licensed two (2) public data centers from the private sector showing the result of ef- forts made in attracting more investments in the area however with the anticipated growth of AI applications in the country and digital transfor-
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