The African Development Bank Group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are pushing their AI 10 Billion Initiative into its implementation phase, after a UNDP delegation visited the Bank last week.
The plan is to channel $1 billion a year over a decade into the energy, data and skills infrastructure that AI depends on. The partners say that sustained flow could help generate 25 million new jobs across the continent by 2035. The initiative is a joint effort between the Bank, UNDP and private-sector partners. It was unveiled at the Nairobi AI Forum in February 2026.
The UNDP team was led by Keyzom Ngodup Massally, Director of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, together with the agency’s Platform for Investment and Technical Assistance (PISTA). The visit also comes as the two institutions continue rolling out the Africa Accelerator for Digital Public Infrastructure.
The jobs target rests on the Bank’s 2025 report, Africa’s AI Productivity Gain. It estimates that inclusive AI adoption could add as much as $1 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2035, with 58 percent of that gain concentrated in agriculture, wholesale and retail, manufacturing, finance and health. With more than 300 million young Africans expected to reach working age within a decade, the Bank argues productivity is the yardstick that matters.
Solomon Quaynor, the Bank’s Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, said the partnership would “align public and private capital” so that AI translates into competitiveness, jobs and inclusive growth.
The partners argue the money is not the missing piece. Governments, development finance institutions and private investors already hold the capital, and what is lacking is a shared focus. The Bank contributes its evidence base, financing capacity and ties to its 54 regional member countries, while UNDP brings its in-country presence and technical expertise through the AI Hub, in which the Bank is a member.
In each participating country, the initiative will work in three stages:
- Diagnose: a single country analysis to identify productivity opportunities.
- Prepare: getting public and private projects to the point where they can be financed.
- Convene: a partnership investment platform bringing together governments, investors and regional economic communities.
Governments, development finance institutions, private investors and philanthropies are invited to join.
