By Meshia Mambo
Zimbabwean robotics scientist Professor Arthur Mutambara has warned that Africa risks becoming permanently dependent on foreign technology unless it develops its own artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Addressing delegates at the inaugural Southern Africa Public Procurement Forum in Harare recently, the former Deputy Prime Minister urged governments across the region to move beyond simply adopting AI technologies and instead become creators of them.
Mutambara,whose career includes research at NASA and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said the future of economic power and national sovereignty would be determined by those who build and control AI.
“The people who are controlling AI are six men and no women, no Africans, no Chinese in that room. That is the danger of a few men, unelected, running the world through technology. It is called techno-feudalism. No women. No Africans,” he said.
He argued that the concentration of AI development in the hands of a small number of technology companies poses significant risks for countries that remain consumers rather than innovators.
Mutambara said artificial intelligence was advancing rapidly towards what experts describe as artificial superintelligence where machines outperform even the brightest human minds.
“Artificial superintelligence is where we are saying the machine is smarter than our smartest. Don’t get happy but see the future,” he said.
He urged African governments, universities and industries to invest heavily in research, innovation and home-grown technologies to avoid being left behind.
“I do not blame the Chinese. I do not blame the Americans. I blame you and I — Africans. We must be creators of AI systems. When you are using AI systems in procurement, let us create the AI systems ourselves. We as Africans will become consequential when we are creators of AI,” he said.
Mutambara challenged public procurement professionals to become catalysts for digital transformation by promoting policies that encourage local AI development and innovation.
He said procurement systems across Southern Africa could play a critical role in accelerating the adoption of locally developed technologies while strengthening regional cooperation.
Calling for greater collaboration among Southern African countries, Mutambara said no single nation had the resources or capacity to compete alone in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Instead, he urged governments to pursue coordinated regional strategies that harness the expertise of universities, research institutions and the private sector to position Africa as a contributor to, rather than merely a consumer of, the next technological revolution.
He encouraged delegates to leave the forum with a shared commitment to champion AI policy reforms within their institutions and governments saying Africa’s future competitiveness would depend on decisions made today.
