Africa is rapidly becoming one of the world’s most enthusiastic adopters of artificial intelligence (AI), but according to David Adeoye Abodunrin, adoption alone is not enough.
Speaking during an exclusive media dialogue in Lagos, the AI Transformations Coach and Chief Futurism Officer warned that without strategic leadership, behavioural change, and governance frameworks rooted in African realities, AI could deepen systemic weaknesses rather than unlock prosperity.
Abodunrin is an Amazon 14-time international bestselling author and thought leader whose frameworks integrate behavioural psychology, foresight strategy and digital sovereignty to prepare leaders for future complexities.
Through his organisations, including Cubed Integrated Consulting and Cyberfore Consulting, he equips governments, boards, and enterprises with tools to build secure, future-ready institutions that thrive amid volatility.
According to him, Africa’s true AI opportunity lies not in consuming tools but in architecting intelligent systems aligned with its values, culture, and long-term interests.
“AI is not merely a tool, it is a transformational frontier that can unlock prosperity, resilience and leadership for Africans in the global digital era. My mission is to help individuals, governments and organisations engineer strategic advantage through anticipatory intelligence and ethically aligned innovation,” he said.
Read also: Optasia pushes responsible AI in Nigeria as privacy takes centre stage at National Privacy Week 2026
Africa’s AI adoption, policies, and the leadership gap
Across the continent, governments are drafting AI policies, tech communities are experimenting at speed, and organisations are embedding AI tools into daily workflows.
Nigerians, in particular, consistently rank among the world’s highest AI adopters across multiple global surveys and research studies. This positions the country as a continental leader in embracing artificial intelligence technologies.
Yet, Abodunrin cautions that high adoption without strategic implementation creates fragmentation, duplicated efforts, conflicting standards, and missed opportunities for collective advancement.
Artificial intelligence has transcended its role as a mere technological advancement. It now fundamentally shapes the distribution of power, determines productivity trajectories, influences governance structures, and establishes new forms of institutional legitimacy across the global landscape.
Recent research commissioned by Google and Ipsos reveals remarkable AI adoption patterns among Nigerians. 93% use AI to learn complex topics, 88% have used AI chatbots, 91% use AI at work, and 80% explore business ideas with AI.
This is why Nigerian users demonstrate exceptional willingness to experiment with new technologies and explore AI capabilities across diverse contexts.
However, the greatest barrier to successful AI transformation in Africa isn’t computational power, data infrastructure, or algorithm sophistication. These are solvable technical challenges with known pathways to resolution.
According to Abodunrin, the real obstacle lies in human systems: entrenched behavioural patterns, organisational cultures resistant to change, leadership mindsets shaped by industrial-era assumptions, and incentive structures that reward caution over innovation.
Until we address these human dimensions, technical investments will consistently underdeliver.
Abodunrin argues that the conversation around AI in Africa has focused too heavily on tools and too lightly on leadership. Artificial intelligence, he says, is now shaping how power is distributed, how institutions gain legitimacy, and how nations define their competitive advantage.
In this context, leadership must evolve from command-and-control structures to designing decision environments where people can interact with intelligent systems effectively and confidently.
What’s next?
For African organisations to truly benefit from AI, Abodunrin believes the first step is not technological deployment but behavioural and cultural alignment. Transformation begins when leaders recognise that trust must be built through consistent, positive interactions with AI systems before adoption can scale and impact can be measured.
Expecting immediate returns on investment without laying this human foundation, he says, is one of the most common reasons AI initiatives fail.
He emphasises that human capacity — cognitive performance, emotional resilience, and adaptability — is now a form of critical infrastructure. Just as nations invest in roads and power, organisations must invest in the well-being and readiness of their people to engage with intelligent systems.
This shift requires leaders to rethink how they design incentives, information flows, and organisational norms so that AI becomes a source of value creation rather than silent resistance.
Ultimately, Abodunrin calls for a model of digital sovereignty that is rooted in African realities. This means developing local talent, building indigenous data infrastructure, creating African training datasets, and establishing governance frameworks that reflect the continent’s socio-economic contexts.
Only then, he argues, can Africa move from being a consumer of imported intelligence to an architect of systems that serve its own long-term interests and aspirations.
Read also: Google opens applications for 10th African startup accelerator, betting big on AI
