Author: The Exchange

Nairobi hosts a landmark AI Everything Kenya X GITEX Kenya summit, running from 19–21 May as the continent confronts a hard truth: you cannot build a viable AI economy on an unstable grid. As AI economy gathers pace, so does the demand for energy. Can policymaker’s switch natural gas from being the continent’s export commodity to a strategic enabler for data centre investments? We examine. Starting this week, international and regional AI economy stakeholders will start gathering in Kenya’s capital Nairobi for the inaugural edition of AI Everything Kenya X GITEX Kenya summit, which is running from 19–21 May. The…

More than 30 heads of state gather in Nairobi on May 11-12 for a historic France-Africa summit, but the most provocative intervention may come not from a president but from a technocrat demanding the continent stop outsourcing its intelligence. Over 2,000 CEOs and 4,000 delegates are expected, with a business forum on May 11 at the University of Nairobi followed by a heads of state summit on May 12 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre. The Africa Forward summit, co-hosted by Kenya and France on May 11-12 in Nairobi, marks the first time a French-led Africa summit has been held…

As Africa advances ambitious frameworks such as Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area, the importance of social cohesion cannot be overstated. These initiatives aim to connect markets, unlock economic potential, and foster prosperity. Yet their success ultimately depends on whether Africans themselves feel a sense of belonging and mutual respect across borders. If Africans continue to feel unwelcome beyond their national borders, then the vision of integration remains incomplete. But if every African can live, work, and thrive anywhere in Africa with dignity and without fear, then the continent will have achieved something far greater than economic…

Ahead of his participation at AI Everything Kenya X GITEX Kenya, Frank Moreno Garcia of the European Artificial Intelligence Office examines the structural barriers to AI independence in East Africa – and the strategic pathways to overcome them.  As the global AI race intensifies and nations accelerate transformational digitalisation roadmaps, East Africa faces a pivotal moment: remain a consumer of externally sourced AI technologies – or assert itself on the world stage through digital sovereignty. With limited representation in global AI governance and immense reliance on external cloud services, dependency risks are deepening. Yet according to Frank Moreno Garcia, Chief…

Ahead of his participation at the inaugural Ai Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya in Nairobi, Albert Murungi, Chief ICT Officer at the Uganda Electricity Generation Company, discusses how East Africa can transform its renewable energy advantage into scalable, globally competitive AI infrastructure. As the global race to scale AI intensifies and energy demands rise exponentially, one reality is becoming increasingly clear: access to abundant, low-carbon energy will determine where the world’s next AI infrastructure will be built. For East Africa, herein lies an unprecedented opportunity to harness a technology already projected to add a potential US$1.5 trillion to the wider African economy…

Foreign Investors’ outflow hit KSh8.77 billion in Q1 2026 even as local IPOs and mobile trading apps spark domestic investor revolution. Nairobi All Share Index rose 4.42 per cent to 194.82 points in Q1 2026, while the narrower NSE 20 Share Index jumped 9.31 per cent to 3,431.56 points. Market capitalisation expanded by 9.72 per cent to close at KSh3.23 trillion ($24.9 billion). Foreign investors are abandoning the Nairobi Securities Exchange at an accelerating pace, withdrawing a net KSh8.77 billion (approximately $67.5 million) in the first three months of 2026, even as Kenya’s capital markets undergo their most dramatic revolution…

The real question is not whether AI will take your job, but who controls the system that could. AI is not the threat, unchecked power in the hands of a few is. The future of work will not be decided by technology, but by leadership, governance and ethics. Those who learn to work with AI will not be replaced, they will lead.  Universities are not preparing students for jobs that exist, but for a future they must help shape. Alarm bells have been ringing about how artificial intelligence (AI) will replace certain, if not most, future jobs. But this fixation…

Afreximbank deploys Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP), warning of severe economic shocks from conflict that escalated on 28 February, with fuel, fertiliser and food imports in the crosshairs. As the Middle East conflict enters its second month with no end in sight, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has taken the extraordinary step of approving a $10 billion emergency facility to insulate African and Caribbean economies from a crisis that is rapidly reshaping global trade, energy flows, and fiscal stability. The Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP), approved by the bank’s board of directors and launched on 31 March, is the largest…

As global oil prices breach $100 a barrel and the Strait of Hormuz remains choked, African nations are scrambling to contain a fuel shock that threatens to undo years of hard-won macroeconomic stability. It began, as these things usually do, with a distant plume of smoke on a satellite image and a terse statement from the Pentagon: operation Epic Fury. But for the millions of commuters in Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg, the war in Iran has become an intimate, visceral reality, felt not in the geopolitics of think-tank reports, but in the sudden, sharp rise of the diesel pump and…

Paris-based Kulipa’s seed round co-led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx will expand regulated issuing capabilities across Africa, Europe, and Latin America. Stablecoin adoption is accelerating rapidly across the continent, with Nigeria leading the way. Between mid-2024 and mid-2025 alone, Sub-Saharan Africa moved over $200 billion in on-chain value, with stablecoins accounting for 43% of that activity. However, this only represents only a small share of all payment flows, with the infrastructure connecting onchain settlement with regulated card networks remaining fragmented and capital-intensive, often relying on prefunded structures and regionally limited licenses. Kulipa, a Paris-based stablecoin-native card issuing infrastructure platform, has announced it has…