Safaricom Backs AI Startups with $500 Million

Safaricom is betting big on artificial intelligence, unveiling a $500 million investment to build AI infrastructure across East Africa over the next three years.

At the Connected Africa Summit 2025 in Diani, Safaricom’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Cynthia Kropac, outlined the company’s vision for an AI-driven economy built by Africans, for Africans. “Africa has the chance to write its own AI story,” Kropac said, stressing that the continent must move beyond merely adopting AI developed elsewhere.

Unlike previous waves of technology, AI presents a unique opportunity to leapfrog legacy systems by creating tools that understand local languages, cultures, and socio-economic realities. Safaricom’s investment aims to empower startups, developers, and enterprises to innovate solutions in critical sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and financial services.

Already, Safaricom has trained over 5,000 staff in AI basics, signaling a serious commitment to developing in-house expertise. This reflects a broader strategy to build not just infrastructure but also human capital, which Kropac identified as essential for a sustainable AI ecosystem.

The $500 million initiative comes at a crucial time as Africa debates how to harmonize data policies and digital laws to foster a scalable and inclusive AI environment. Kropac emphasized that success depends on aligning government frameworks with private sector innovation to address continent-specific challenges like multilingual education and climate-smart farming.

The $500 million investment, Kropac said, will go into empowering local developers and enterprises to build AI solutions for sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and financial services.

‘’As Africa builds its social and economic future, we must build AI that reflects our values, cultures, and priorities. The question is not whether the world is ready; the real question is: Are we ready to write Africa’s AI story?’’ She said.