African labour markets are largely defined by dualities: formal and informal, local and digital. In recent years, one of the most visible shifts has been with the rise of the gig economy. Labour market disruptors in the form of ride-hailing services or online freelancing platforms have taken up a large share of the continent’s workforce. For young people, especially, these short-term, task-based employment opportunities provide some flexibility and income generation possibilities in the face of high unemployment. However, these jobs are also often unprotected by labour laws and largely unpredictable.

At the same time, rapid AI advancements threaten to stifle progress in this growing subsection of the labour market. Many jobs available in the gig economy rely on the performance of tasks like translation, web design, customer support and transcription, many of which are easily automated by generative AI and large language models. As these tools become more capable, there is an increased risk of displacing the kinds of freelance work that millions of young Africans are increasingly reliant on. Thus, AI development on the continent must seek to identify ways these technologies could augment rather than replace this kind of labour.

As home to the youngest population in the world, Africa’s youth population could be one of the continent’s greatest assets in wading through this new and ever-changing digital landscape. With proper investments in education, infrastructure and labour protection frameworks, African countries can reimagine what inclusive AI innovation and development could look like. To do this would require moving beyond the current picture of production and labour efficiency towards progress that prioritizes people and creates technologies that supplement livelihoods, rather than undermine them.

Already, there are some examples of these sorts of tools that are leaving positive marks on African labour markets. In agriculture, startups like Nigeria’s Kitovu provide farmers with climate-smart farming tools, enabling them to optimize their yield. Kenya’s Hello Tractor connects tractor workers and smallholder farmers, allowing them to access mechanization services previously out of reach. These tools are examples of ways that intelligent systems could be deployed to provide solutions that improve the welfare of African people.

African governments have a crucial role, not just as regulators, but as architects of a digital future where AI enhances, rather than erodes, access to economic opportunity. Here, the goal should be to harness the potential of intelligent systems while prioritizing protecting and preserving vulnerable workers. Administrators all over the continent have a responsibility to invest in digital infrastructure, electricity, broadband access, and mobile connectivity. This will ensure that people everywhere, both in rural and urban areas, can actively and safely participate in the ever-growing digital market. They also have a responsibility to design and implement policies that protect workers in digital settings. The fundamental lies in treating the African worker not as an expendable input in a large technological market, but as an active stakeholder in a shared, equitable and prosperous future.

In global discussions on AI, Africa is often treated as an afterthought. As a landscape onto which innovations are projected, rather than a region already shaping and experiencing AI in profound ways.

AI development cannot be dissected outside the broader structures of global labour markets, environmental justice, and digital colonialism. Behind the sleek interfaces of chatbot technologies and large language models, African workers exist, underpaid and working under gruelling conditions. When we think and talk about the capabilities of intelligent machines, we must ask ourselves: whose data, whose land, whose labour, and whose energy are being used to sustain these systems? Moreover, do indigenous communities benefit from their use?

Going forward, Africa’s story with and in AI does not have to be one of continued marginalization. Our rapidly growing youth population, rising digital adoption and renewable energy potential position the continent to lead the world into a more equitable, sustainable, and people-focused AI future. Realizing this future requires intentional choices from both public and private actors alike. Governments must make the necessary investments in green data infrastructure and research. Global institutions must partner with African stakeholders as equals and not just as a source for extraction. This technology as we have come to know it must be reimagined, not as a substitute for human labour, but as a tool that augments it and preserves the dignity of human work and resilience.

The future of AI is being built, literally, by the hands of African workers. Will Africa remain an invisible thread woven into the fabric of the global AI industry, or will it rise to be a co-creator of a more inclusive and just technological world?⎈