Cynthia Kropac is Chief Enterprise Business Officer at Safaricom and she says that Safaricom will invest nearly $500 Million in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure across East Africa.
Kropac spoke at the Connected African Summit 2025, held in Diani, Kwale County Kenya.
According to Kropac “Safaricom will invest nearly $500 million in AI infrastructure over the next three year across East Africa.” We’ve trained over 5000 staff in AI basics, because the intelligent economic system is not only coming to Africa. We are building Africa’s smart economy.”
Kropac, who leads Safaricom Business, said that AI is already in use at Safaricom, including in M-PESA and Digifarm, among others.
“M-PESA connects over 60 million users in today’s world. AI is a fundamental part of M-Pesa’s architecture, and it does several things. For example, it promotes a safe and secured environment for your money as well as your transactions,” she said.
Kropac said that AI is a major factor in analyzing data, ensuring that only the intended person can access their money. They also want to ensure that their transactions are completed with complete confidence. AI can also help keep fraudsters away by analyzing new fraud patterns, actors, and threat vectors.
“Digifarm is another example of AI at work,” she said, referring to the platform that helps farmers gain access to inputs and markets while also obtaining credit. She said that Africa will experience and write the story of AI by investing in its infrastructure.
Kropac said that Africa is a unique place to shape its own AI future, as it represents 17% of global GDP and 75% of Africa’s population is under 25 years old.
In reality, only 40% of Africa’s 400 million people have broadband access.
“At Safaricom we build and continue building connectivity and the underpinning of any technology that has power and impact today,” Kropac stated, backing it up by Safaricom’s 46 million users in Kenya and 8 million in Ethiopia where it was launched around two years ago.
Safaricom has invested over 6500 towers and over 15,000 km of fiber to provide affordable internet connectivity for all. These are the rails that people use to access the internet.
Safaricom, in addition to infrastructure, is working with the Kenyan government and other mobile network operators on affordable smartphones. Safaricom will launch the East Africa Device Assembly of Kenya in 2023. It is currently assembling over 1.5 million devices per year.
The 4G Plus devices that cost less than $50 increase access to digital services, both for home use and business. The company is also calling for greater investment and collaboration in order to connect over 400 million people in Africa to the Internet.
Safaricom is aware of the transformative power mobile and fintech solutions can have on Africa. To unlock Africa’s full potential, the company is building a digital seamless digital infrastructure. It is also removing outdated barriers which slow down progress, and calling for a harmonized ICT Policy across borders.
In addition to AI innovation, the expansion of broadband is essential to support trade, FinTech and health, agriculture, education, and youth employment in order to meet the growing population on the continent.
AI can accelerate this transformation. It can offer affordable diagnostics, provide remote consultations, and predictive health models for agriculture. This will help farmers to do more precision farming, optimize their yields, and adapt to climate change.
But AI is more than just a technological advance. It’s also a powerful economic force. Africa could add $1.2 trillion in GDP to its GDP within the next five-year period, simply by automating and improving healthcare, optimizing food production, and delivering productivity.
Other factors to consider are high energy costs, unreliable electricity, and regulatory hurdles. She says that Africa will need more than 100 data centers in the next ten years and thousands of AI professionals.
AI is powered by data and Africa needs to improve its data infrastructure. Africa must cultivate AI expertise in addition to expanding broadband. Despite having 17% of global population, Africa contributes less than 1% to the world’s capacity for data centers.
“Africa needs more than 1 million AI professionals. But today, we only have less than 50,000. We can have AI labs in every major African university with industry partnerships, a real-world focus, rapid skills, and programs that engage the diaspora. What is the task to be performed? We must harmonize data and digital laws on the continent in order to have a robust, scalable AI ecosystem,” Kropac added, adding that AI would also redefine Africa’s Future, driving solutions for African Challenges, whether it be multilingual, education programs, climate, Smart Agriculture or mobile health diagnostics.
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