Technology firms Lakeba Group from Australia, Next Digital from Nigeria, AqlanX from the United Arab Emirates, and Agentic Dynamic from the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a new Joint Venture known as AfricAI.
The initiative, described as a groundbreaking step toward strengthening Africa’s digital future, is designed to localise, deploy, and commercialise advanced AI systems specifically tailored to African needs.
In a joint statement, the founding partners explained that AfricAI will first establish operations in Nigeria, which will serve as its flagship hub. The venture plans to leverage the country’s existing data centers and edge infrastructure to deliver AI-powered solutions in crucial sectors such as healthcare, public administration, digital identity, enterprise services, and document automation. The firms emphasised that AfricAI’s approach is centered on ensuring Africa does not remain a consumer of foreign technology but instead becomes an active producer of its own sovereign, context-driven AI systems.
The partners underscored their strategy by stating, “We are bringing together four complementary pillars—global IP, regional expertise, deployment excellence, and next-gen agentic AI architecture—to create an AI foundation that reflects African realities.” They further highlighted that the purpose of the joint venture is not to outsource artificial intelligence to Africa but to build and develop it within the continent, ensuring it is designed “by Africa, for Africa.”
AfricAI aims to create a distributed and interoperable AI network that stretches across the continent, with applications extending into agriculture, education, urban development, and public services. Through this framework, the initiative seeks to empower governments, businesses, and communities with infrastructure that ensures transparency, inclusivity, and trust. By 2026, AfricAI intends to extend its footprint into Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Rwanda while training over 100 AI specialists across the region to strengthen Africa’s talent base in artificial intelligence.
The partnership also intends to integrate modular, agent-based AI systems that can adapt to different industries, including human resources, legal services, public policy, and customer relationship management. This model is expected to provide more explainable and context-aware solutions suited to the complexities of African markets. With a strong focus on compliance and local control, AfricAI will rely on Nigeria’s edge and cloud infrastructure to ensure data remains within the country, in alignment with its national data residency laws.
To further deepen its impact, AfricAI will establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) to develop expertise in AI model training, cybersecurity, and ethical deployment, while also nurturing a new generation of regional innovators. According to the joint statement, the first wave of deployment will prioritise AI solutions for national identity systems, compliance processes, document management, and citizen-facing digital assistants, alongside multilingual platforms for healthcare and government services.
The Chairman of Next Digital, Prince Malik Ado-Ibrahim, noted that the initiative was not just about importing technology but rather shaping it to mirror African values and perspectives. “AfricAI is about more than software. It’s about exporting our intelligence, building our future on our terms, and making Africa a force in the global AI conversation. Nigeria will lead that movement — and we are ready,” he declared.
Similarly, Giuseppe Porcelli, the CEO of Lakeba Group, stressed that the company had long been a leader in global AI and that this venture represents an ambitious leap forward. He explained, “AfricAI marks a bold next step — not just for Lakeba, but for the future of sovereign AI. Nigeria offers the ideal launchpad for building a truly African AI ecosystem. With our flagship DoxAI platform and deep capabilities in cybersecurity, automation, and orchestration, we are proud to architect the AI infrastructure Africa needs and deserves.”
Demetrio Russo, Founder and CEO of AqlanX, also described the project as essential for establishing Africa’s digital independence. He said, “AfricAI reflects a strategic intent by AqlanX to help shape Africa’s digital sovereignty agenda while enabling secure, AI-first innovation ecosystems built for scale, ethics, and inclusion.”
Adding his perspective, Eren Sivasli, Chairman of Agentic Dynamic, highlighted the company’s role in bringing scalable solutions to the table. “We believe in scalable, domain-specific automation that truly supports human workflows. That’s why we’re excited to bring Agentic Dynamic’s segment-oriented agent architecture into this multinational collaboration,” he explained.
What you should know
AfricAI is a multinational joint venture formed by tech firms from Nigeria, Australia, the UAE, and the Netherlands, with Nigeria as its starting point.
The initiative seeks to localise AI development for Africa, focusing on sectors like healthcare, public administration, identity systems, and education.
Beyond its technological ambitions, AfricAI represents a strategic move to ensure Africa builds its own AI infrastructure and expertise, strengthening the continent’s role in the global AI landscape.
