African Firms Risk Missing AI Boom Without Scale, PwC Warns

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has warned that African organisations risk falling behind global leaders in artificial intelligence adoption unless they scale beyond pilot projects and deploy AI across core business operations.

The warning was contained in PwC’s latest AI performance findings released in Lagos, which revealed that while about 82% of organisations in Africa are running AI pilot programmes, only a small fraction have achieved full enterprise-wide deployment capable of delivering measurable impact.

PwC Nigeria CEO Dion Shango said the real challenge for Africa is not just adopting AI, but scaling it quickly enough to remain globally competitive.

He stressed that success will depend on organisations prioritising the “right AI” solutions that transform value creation, rather than simply increasing the number of experimental projects.

According to the report, African firms currently invest an average of just 2% of revenue in AI, compared to about 5% among global leaders. It also noted that only 32% of executives believe current investment levels are sufficient to drive meaningful transformation.

PwC West Market Consulting and Risk Services Leader Olufemi Osinubi said many businesses on the continent are still focused on cost reduction and efficiency gains rather than using AI to unlock new revenue streams and innovative business models.

He warned that this narrow focus could limit Africa’s long-term competitiveness in the global digital economy.

“Focusing AI only on efficiency is a narrowing strategy,” Osinubi said, adding that the bigger opportunity lies in expanding into underserved markets and creating entirely new industries powered by AI.

PwC Nigeria Chief AI Officer Christopher Ogirri added that Africa’s fragmented markets and infrastructure gaps could become advantages if organisations embrace AI-driven partnerships and ecosystem-based innovation.

He noted that collaboration across industries and borders will be critical for scaling AI solutions effectively and ensuring Africa benefits fully from the ongoing global AI transformation.