Hi Ayodele here,

Over the past week, Africa’s AI story has blended culture, education, and global collaboration. Wits University in Johannesburg is launching an AI-music pilot that puts African creativity at the center of sound innovation. South African edtech startup The Invigilator has raised $11 million to expand its AI-powered exam proctoring tools worldwide. And in Nigeria, GITEX 2025 brought together global tech leaders, startups, and policymakers to showcase innovations, strengthen AI infrastructure, and push for greater digital inclusion.

This edition highlights how AI is being used to preserve culture, reimagine learning, and build stronger ecosystems that connect Africa to the global technology landscape.

Let us get into it. In this edition:

• AI demand drives Africa’s $3 billion data center opportunity

• Lagos State leads Nigeria’s push for responsible AI with upcoming deployment guidelines

• African Union High-Level AI Dialogue Charts Path for Africa’s Future

• Zimbabwe Hosts National AI Conference on the Future of Work

Around Africa

Wits University launches AI-music pilot to celebrate African creativity

Wits University’s Innovation Centre (WIC) together with the Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute is calling on African musicians, producers, composers, and educators to apply for a pilot project that uses AI to celebrate African creativity through sound, language, and innovation. 

Successful applicants will receive monthly funding of ZAR 30,000 for four months, paired with an AI engineer and programme advisor to develop their projects.  The initiative invites proposals ranging from co-creating and performing music rooted in traditions, conserving musical heritage, reimagining local genres, to building AI tools that understand African soundscapes. 

The pilot spans six months and will conclude with a showcase in Johannesburg in April 2026 after workshops and industry exchange sessions beginning November 2025.

Why This Matters
This project empowers African creators to shape the future of music technology instead of accepting tools built on foreign data sets it shifts the narrative toward authentic cultural representation it helps preserve and evolve rich musical traditions while fostering innovation and building local AI capacity.

South African edtech, The Invigilator raises $11M to scale AI exam proctoring

South African edtech startup, The Invigilator, has raised US$11 million to scale its AI-driven exam proctoring tools internationally. Founded in 2020, the platform enables institutions to monitor remote assessments using students’ smartphones and AI to flag suspicious activity in low-bandwidth environments.

It has already been adopted by over 100 institutions in South Africa. The new funding round was led by investment firm Kaltroco and backers from Nashville, Zurich, and Cape Town. Planned improvements include live AI monitoring and enhanced tools to detect when students use generative AI for their work. Expansion aims to bring their platform to North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Why It Matters:

The Invigilator’s growth reflects increasing demand for secure, accessible online assessment tools that address academic integrity while working within digital infrastructure constraints; this could influence how remote learning and exams are managed globally.

GITEX Nigeria 2025: Key Themes and Announcements

Key Themes & Takeaways

• AI Infrastructure & Policy: There was strong emphasis on building future-proof AI infrastructure and public policy frameworks to guide Nigeria’s AI race.

• Digital Inclusion & Skills Development: Sessions focused on ensuring rural or underserved communities are not left behind, and programs for upskilling/reskilling Nigeria’s workforce via AI-related education.

• Startup & Innovation Showcases: Hundreds of startups participated, showing AI, fintech, cybersecurity, agritech, green tech etc., leading to many new partnerships and investment conversations.

• Cybersecurity & Sustainability: With AI’s growth comes concern about threats; cybersecurity was a repeat topic, as was sustainable tech and climate-friendly innovation.

Major Announcements & Developments

• Introduction of ₦250 million investment by NASENI and AfriLabs toward supporting innovation and AI infrastructure in Nigeria.

• The Supernova Challenge was held during the Startup Festival, showcasing top startup ideas and giving winners exposure to investors.

• Participation of major companies and global organisations (e.g. AWS, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Cisco) in exhibitions, sparking interest in cross-border collaboration and tech transfer.

Around the world

OpenAI Signs $300B Cloud Deal With Oracle for Project Stargate

OpenAI has agreed to purchase $300 billion worth of computing power from Oracle over approximately five years, starting in 2027, as part of its Project Stargate infrastructure expansion. The deal includes building data centres with 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity, enough energy to supply roughly 4 million U.S. homes. Oracle’s cloud revenue saw a 77 percent rise in its recent quarter, helped by this and other multi-billion dollar contracts. The deal is among the largest cloud computing contracts ever disclosed and signals aggressive scaling in AI infrastructure.

YouTube Brings Multi-Language Audio Dubbing to All Creators

YouTube is rolling out its multi-language audio dubbing feature to millions of creators after a two-year pilot that included MrBeast, Mark Rober, and Jamie Oliver. Creators can now use Google’s Gemini-powered auto-dubbing tool to replicate tone and emotion when translating audio tracks into other languages. Videos with dubbed tracks have averaged over 25 percent of watch time from non-primary language viewers. YouTube is also testing localized thumbnails that adapt text to viewers’ preferred languages.

OpenAI’s “Critterz” Aims to Shake Up Animated Films

OpenAI is producing an AI-powered animated feature film called Critterz set to release in 2026 with a planned debut at Cannes. The film uses its own AI tools like GPT-5, and is being developed with partners Native Foreign and Vertigo Films on a budget under $30 million over nine months. It aims to show that generative AI can speed up animation production and cut costs dramatically. The project is a test case for convincing Hollywood execs to embrace AI in filmmaking.

OpenAI Moves to Launch Jobs Platform to Rival LinkedIn

OpenAI has announced it is building an AI-powered hiring service called the OpenAI Jobs Platform expected to launch by mid-2026 to match companies with candidates based on skills and needs. The platform will include special tracks for small businesses and local governments and will provide certifications via OpenAI Academy to validate AI fluency. OpenAI says it will partner with employers like Walmart and training firms to ensure meaningful opportunities and establish credibility for AI skills. The move places OpenAI in direct competition with LinkedIn while expanding its footprint beyond consumer AI.

Around the Web - Top Picks

• Web publishers to charge AI for using their data

  A new licensing framework called Really Simple Licensing (RSL) enables web publishers like Reddit, Yahoo, Medium, Quora, and People Inc to set licensing and royalty terms for AI companies that use their content for training. The standard lets sites include terms in their robots.txt files to require fees such as pay-per-crawl, subscription, or pay-per-inference when their content is scraped or used.

  Read the full article: RSL Demands AI Firms Pay for Content

• Sal Khan on AI as a Learning Partner

  Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, discusses how AI features like Khanmigo are designed to personalize learning through Socratic methods, real-time feedback, and motivational prompts without replacing teachers. He highlights the nonprofit’s mission to stay accessible while integrating AI tools that help fill learning gaps in underserved areas. Khan emphasizes safeguards against AI errors like hallucinations and stresses keeping educators involved and accountable throughout the process.

  Read the full article: Sal Khan on AI as a Learning Partner

• The Job Market Is Hell

  Young job seekers are sending AI-polished resumes to hundreds of openings and getting little to no response. Employers are using AI tools to filter, screen, schedule, and even interview with avatars to manage the flood of applicants. The rate of hiring has dropped sharply and most sectors remain stalled in a low-hire phase despite strong corporate profits. Applicants are stuck in an exhausting loop of applying, tweaking, and waiting.

  Read the full article: Job Market Is Hell

Seen This?

Vodafone is testing an AI-generated presenter in a TikTok ad that looks disturbingly close to real with odd hair movement, disappearing moles, and “uncanny” facial expressions. The ad caught attention because when questioned, Vodafone said it’s “just testing different advertising styles” using AI since “AI is so much a part of everyday life.”

Upcoming African AI Events

Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition 2025
Date: 28–29 October 2025
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Theme: “Sovereign Intelligence: Africa’s Voice in the Global AI Order,” focusing on AI governance, indigenous AI solutions, and Africa’s role in shaping global AI norms.
Link: Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition 2025

AI Summit: South Africa 2025 5th IFLA Artificial Intelligence Symposium 2025
Date: June 16–20, 2025
Location: Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Theme: Exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on libraries, information management, and knowledge dissemination
Link: IFLA Artificial Intelligence

Africa Technology Expo
Dates: June 21, 2025
Location: Landmark Centre, Lagos
Theme: The Africa Technology Expo (ATE) is where Africa’s tech and business leaders gather with one clear goal: to make deals happen. It’s a space where enterprises, operators, and industry giants converge to showcase innovations, build partnerships, and deliver results.
Link: Africa Technology Expo

DSN AI Bootcamp 2025
Dates: Ongoing (Pre-learning phase)
Location: Nigeria (residential Bootcamp location to be announced)
Theme: Africa’s top 200 AI talents will undergo intensive training, mentorship, and networking in a fully-funded, career-transforming experience.
Link: DSN AI Bootcamp 2025

AI Opportunities

• ISTA Solutions - Machine Learning Developer, South Africa

• Federal Penitentiary Service‪ - AI Prompt Engineer, Tanzania

• Deloitte – Data Scientist, South Africa

• NTT DATA, Inc. — Associate AI Engineer, South Africa

• Elixirr Digital — AI Engineer (LLMs and Agents), South Africa

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