At the heart of GITEX Africa 2025 in Marrakech, Huawei hosted its Intelligent Africa Summit under the theme “Amplify Intelligence for New Africa”, a clear signal that AI is now central to the continent’s digital growth strategy.
Opening the event, Shen Li, President of Huawei Northern Africa, emphasized the company’s collaborative vision:
“Moving forward, we will continue to collaborate with all parties across key pillars of AI development in policy, technology, ecosystem, and talent to accelerate intelligence and co-build a new Africa.”
Echoing this, Lacina Koné, Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, stressed the need for African-led, tailored innovation: “Let us deepen our roots, in policy, in people, in partnerships, so Africa may rise strong in the AI winds of change.”
With over 70% of Africa’s population under 30, the potential for homegrown AI talent is massive and ripe for investment.
Mounir Soussi, Vice President of Huawei Northern Africa, added that inclusive, customer-centric AI is key: “In this changing era, Inclusive AI develops new opportunities in Africa and Huawei will insist on being customer-centric, promoting intelligence across the continent.”
Building the Infrastructure and Ecosystem for Africa’s AI Future
One of the main takeaways from the summit was the critical role of intelligent cloud infrastructure in scaling AI.
Ahmed Talaat, CTO of Huawei Cloud Northern Africa, explained:
“In Africa, Huawei Cloud is committed to building an intelligent cloud foundation for the telecom industry and accelerating intelligence across industries with systematic innovation that encompasses AI for Cloud and Cloud for AI.”
This infrastructure-first approach is designed to bridge Africa’s digital divide while ensuring secure and scalable support for AI applications.
Success stories also took the stage, like the digital transformation journey of Attijariwafa Bank.
Marouane Akrab, Head of its Digital Center, shared: “After laying the foundations for effective governance and centralized data, Attijariwafa Bank has launched a strategic shift to turn data into a real performance lever… marked by a rise in analytical tools, better use of data, and acculturation of teams to use Data & AI.”
Another session focused on the importance of building a resilient AI ecosystem, emphasizing inclusive policy, agile partnerships, and long-term sustainability. This echoed throughout the summit as a must-have for Africa’s digital rise.
With thought leadership, real-world impact, and infrastructure development at its core, the Huawei Intelligent Africa Summit 2025 clearly mapped out a tech-forward, collaborative vision for AI-led progress across MENA and the African continent.
