The latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) Artificial Intelligence Preparedness Index reveals that only seven African countries have preparedness indices of 0.4 or more. South Africa leads the continent with a score of 0.5, while the Republic of South Sudan (0.11) and the Central African Republic (0.18) are ranked the lowest.
AI Preparedness Index: South Africa Best Prepared African Country; Nigeria Ranks Outside the Continent’s Top 7
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Nigeria Not Among Africa’s Top Five AI-Prepared Countries
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Preparedness Index, out of Africa’s more than 50 countries, only seven registered an index score above 0.4. The data reveals that South Africa leads the continent with a score of 0.5, while Tunisia follows closely with a rank of 0.47.
Kenya holds the third position with a score of 0.45, while Morocco (0.43) and Ghana (0.43) share fourth place. Namibia and Botswana complete the top seven, scoring 0.42 and 0.41, respectively. With a score of 0.34, Nigeria, as the home of the continent’s largest economy, falls within the range of countries with AI preparedness scores between 0.2 and 0.4.
The IMF index, which assesses AI preparedness across 174 countries, indicates that the majority of African countries’ indices fall within this range (0.2 and 0.4), aligning with the IMF’s average score for low-income countries (LIC) of 0.32.
However, only two African countries—the Republic of South Sudan (0.11) and the Central African Republic (0.18)—have indices below 0.2. War-torn Afghanistan (0.13) is the only other country with a score under 0.2.
As explained by the IMF, the AI Preparedness Index (AIPI) is the sum of four key dimensions likely to be relevant to the adoption of AI. These dimensions include digital infrastructure, human capital, technological innovation, and legal frameworks.
AI Likely to Exacerbate Overall Inequality
Meanwhile, the preparedness data shows that many advanced economies score above 0.7—an indication of their strong inclination toward embracing AI. The global lending institution attributes the high scores to these economies being better equipped for AI adoption than low-income countries.
However, the IMF warns that AI will likely worsen overall inequality, so policymakers need to come up with ways to pre-empt this.
“For policymakers, those in advanced economies should expand social safety nets, invest in training workers, and prioritize AI innovation and integration. Coordinating with one another globally, these countries also should strengthen regulation to protect people from potential risks and abuses and build trust in AI,” the IMF said.
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