As artificial intelligence redefines the frontiers of global innovation, its integration into the education systems presents both a challenge and an opportunity — especially for countries in the Global South. In Africa, where digital divides and educational disparities persist, AI education offers a promising pathway toward a more equitable future.

This vision was powerfully reinforced at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2025, held in Shanghai from July 26 to 28, where leaders, scholars and innovators from across the world gathered to explore AI's potential to bridge global divides. A key theme of the conference was the inclusive growth of AI — particularly how it can empower marginalized communities and enhance access to education across continents. WAIC 2025 underscored a critical truth — unless AI becomes a tool for global equity, it risks becoming another driver of inequality.

While much of the global AI conversation focuses on automation, job displacement and regulatory frameworks in the Global North, the educational potential of AI in the Global South deserves far more attention. In regions where there are teacher shortages, outdated curricula and limited access to quality learning materials, AI-driven education tools — such as intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive learning platforms and language translation technologies — can play a transformative role.

In Africa, for instance, where deep-rooted educational inequalities persist, AI offers a powerful tool to bridge gaps, democratize knowledge and chart a more equitable digital future. But to unlock this promise, access must come first.

Africa's digital divide remains a structural barrier. As of 2023, only about 37 percent of Africans were using the internet, leaving nearly 60 percent offline. Even basic electricity access is unreliable for large segments of the population, with only around 43 percent enjoying consistent power — an essential prerequisite for digital learning. Moreover, Africa accounts for less than 1 percent of global data center capacity, despite being home to 18 percent of the world's population. In such a context, digital infrastructure is not just a technical need — it is a foundation for educational equity.

Over the past decade, China has emerged as a key partner in addressing this gap. Through initiatives such as the Digital Silk Road and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has invested in fiber-optic networks, cloud data centers, 5G deployment and satellite connectivity across the continent. In 2024 alone, China committed $29.2 billion to projects in Africa, with digital and technological infrastructure accounting for 14.3 percent of that total. These investments lay critical groundwork for expanding AI-enabled education tools across borders and communities.

But infrastructure, while necessary, is not sufficient. There is the need to embed AI in education for broader reforms, such as teacher training, building localized curricula, providing inclusive language options and boosting ethical data governance. The tools must reflect African realities, by supporting local languages, respecting cultural contexts and protecting the privacy of learners. Equally, these tools must be jointly developed with African educators, students and technologists, ensuring they are not just usable, but relevant and empowering.

This is where South-South cooperation can make a structural difference. Unlike traditional donor-recipient models that often impose external solutions, South-South partnerships emphasize mutual learning, co-creation and context sensitivity. The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation advocates this model as a "catalyst and enabler" of digital transformation — highlighting the value of peer-to-peer learning, locally adapted solutions, and shared knowledge ecosystems.

Through such partnerships, African institutions can collaborate with Chinese universities, Southeast Asian AI labs and Global South ed-tech innovators to develop educational technologies that meet Africa's needs. Shared innovation, rather than one-size-fits-all solutions, must be the goal. This also includes advancing inclusive governance frameworks for AI that safeguard the rights and agency of African learners and educators.

Importantly, AI education should not be limited to passive consumption. With nearly 60 percent of its population being under the age of 25, Africa has the world's youngest population — and potentially, its largest future AI talent base. Therefore, African youths must be equipped not only to use AI technologies, but to build and govern them. This demands long-term investment in digital and AI literacy — from primary school to university — fostering skills in coding, data science and responsible innovation.

Encouragingly, countries such as Rwanda have introduced AI and robotics in secondary education, and Ghana is drafting a national AI strategy with a strong educational component. In support of such efforts, China has pledged to provide training to 40,000 African teachers over a three-year period starting in 2024 — a critical step toward building the human capital needed to support AI literacy across the continent.

Looking ahead, AI education must be understood not merely as a technological advancement, but as a fundamental rights-based imperative. Exclusion from AI literacy today could mean exclusion from economic opportunity tomorrow. If AI is truly to fulfill its promise of democratizing access to knowledge, it must begin by reaching those who have historically been left behind — and that journey begins in Africa.

The author is the vice-dean of the Institute of African Studies at Hunan University. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily. 

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.