ABT NEWS | Technology & Innovation
As artificial intelligence transforms Africa’s digital economy, experts warn that the continent must do more than embrace AI. It must also retain the power to control, monitor and shut it down when things go wrong.
Imagine a busy morning in Nairobi. Traders are arriving at wholesale markets, farmers are delivering fresh produce, and thousands of small businesses are preparing for another day of trading. Payments are flowing through M-Pesa, Kenya’s widely used mobile money platform.
Suddenly, the system goes down.
Across the continent in Accra, Ghana, a similar crisis unfolds as MTN’s MoMo mobile money service experiences a major disruption. Traders cannot receive payments, customers cannot access their funds, and businesses grind to a halt.
What if the disruption was not caused by a conventional technical failure, but by an artificial intelligence (AI) agent behaving unpredictably?
It may sound like a futuristic scenario, but cybersecurity experts are increasingly warning that the growing capabilities of AI-powered systems introduce new risks to critical digital infrastructure.
And for Africa, where mobile money has become a lifeline for millions, the consequences could be enormous.
AFRICA’S AI REVOLUTION COMES WITH NEW RISKS
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of Africa’s economic transformation. Governments are developing national AI strategies, technology companies are building innovative applications, and developers are exploring how AI can improve financial services, healthcare, agriculture and public administration.
But while much of the conversation focuses on innovation, investment and global competition between technology giants in the United States and China, another question deserves urgent attention:
Who can stop AI when it becomes a threat?
In an article published by Rest of World on October 29, 2026, Jane Munga, a technology policy fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argues that Africa must develop its own capacity to control AI systems, particularly those connected to essential infrastructure.
Her warning comes amid reports of increasingly sophisticated AI-related cyber incidents.
The concern is especially significant for mobile money networks, which have become fundamental to everyday economic activity across Africa.
According to figures cited in the report, more than $2 trillion flowed through mobile money globally in 2025. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for approximately $1.4 trillion of that total, with East Africa processing $806 billion and West Africa $498 billion.
These figures demonstrate just how much economic activity depends on digital financial platforms.
For millions of small traders, losing access to mobile money is not simply an inconvenience. It can mean losing an entire day’s income.
THE DANGER OF LOSING CONTROL
One of the biggest challenges surrounding AI is the growing use of autonomous agents: systems capable of carrying out tasks, making decisions and interacting with other digital platforms with limited human intervention.
While these capabilities offer significant opportunities, they also introduce risks when such systems are compromised, misconfigured or manipulated.
A rogue AI agent operating within a connected financial system could potentially disrupt transactions, interfere with accounts or compromise access to essential services.
The challenge becomes even greater when AI systems are connected to multiple platforms and networks.
Munga highlights an important distinction between closed AI models, which remain under the control of their providers, and open-weight models, which developers can download, modify and deploy independently.
Open models can be attractive to African developers because they offer flexibility, local deployment opportunities and potentially lower costs.
However, once deployed across different systems, controlling or shutting down a compromised application can become more complicated.
Closed models offer certain centralised control mechanisms, but they can also create dependence on foreign technology providers.
In other words, neither approach automatically guarantees safety.
The real issue is whether African governments, businesses and developers have the technical capacity to understand what their AI systems are doing and intervene when necessary.
WHY AFRICA CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE CYBERSECURITY
Africa’s digital transformation is happening at a time when cybersecurity threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
The consequences of a major disruption could extend far beyond technology companies.
Consider a market trader in Nairobi who depends on daily mobile money transactions to purchase supplies and feed a family. If a digital payment platform becomes unavailable for an entire day, the financial consequences could be immediate.
Farmers, suppliers, transport operators and households could all feel the impact.
The problem is that many small businesses operate with limited financial reserves and have little protection against sudden income disruptions.
This makes the resilience of Africa’s digital infrastructure an economic and social priority, not simply a technical concern.
The continent must therefore move beyond measuring AI progress by the number of applications developed or the speed at which new technologies are adopted.
It must also ask whether these systems are secure, accountable and resilient.
THE SOLUTION: AFRICA MUST BUILD WITH CONTROL
The answer is not for Africa to reject foreign AI technologies or abandon the opportunities offered by global innovation.
Instead, the continent must build partnerships that strengthen local expertise, encourage technology development and ensure that African institutions retain meaningful control over the systems they deploy.
This includes investing in:
- Human oversight: Critical AI-powered systems must have mechanisms that allow authorised people to intervene and stop potentially harmful activities.
- Stronger cybersecurity infrastructure: Governments and businesses need the tools and expertise to detect threats, investigate incidents and respond quickly.
- Local technical capacity: African developers and institutions must be empowered to design, manage and secure AI-powered systems.
- Reduced technology dependence: Countries should avoid becoming overly reliant on a single foreign technology provider or platform.
- System resilience: Essential services need backup arrangements, independent security checks and offline alternatives to keep operating during digital disruptions.
- Accountability and transparency: Organisations deploying AI must be able to monitor system behaviour, investigate decisions and establish responsibility when something goes wrong.
These measures are particularly important as African countries integrate AI into financial services, public administration and other critical sectors.
THE BIGGER QUESTION: WHO OWNS AFRICA’S AI FUTURE?
Africa’s AI ambitions should not be measured only by how quickly the continent adopts emerging technologies.
They should also be measured by how much control African countries have over the technologies shaping their economies.
The ability to build, adapt, monitor and secure AI systems will become increasingly important as autonomous technologies become more integrated into everyday life.
For African countries, technological sovereignty does not necessarily mean developing every component independently. It means having the knowledge, infrastructure, partnerships and decision-making authority to ensure that imported technologies serve local priorities without creating dangerous dependencies.
As Munga argues, the distinction that ultimately matters is not whether a system was built using American, Chinese or locally developed technology. It is whether the system can fulfil its purpose while remaining under effective local control.
And that brings the conversation back to the proposed AI off switch.
It is not simply a button that shuts down a machine. It represents the ability of governments, businesses and technology operators to intervene when digital systems threaten public safety, financial stability or economic activity.
ABT NEWS TAKE: INNOVATION MUST NEVER COME AT THE EXPENSE OF CONTROL
Africa stands at a critical moment in its digital development.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to accelerate economic growth, improve public services, expand financial inclusion and create new opportunities for innovation.
But embracing AI without investing equally in cybersecurity, accountability and resilience could expose the continent to risks it is not adequately prepared to manage.
The future of African AI should therefore be built on three essential principles: innovation, security and sovereignty.
The continent must not settle for being a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere. It must become an active participant in shaping, managing and protecting its digital future.
Because when the next major AI-powered disruption happens, the question should not be whether Africa can access the technology to solve the problem.
The question should be whether Africa has the power to stop it.
And that is exactly why Africa needs its own AI off switch.
ABT NEWS | Reporting Africa’s Stories. Informing Africa’s Future.
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