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Reimagining AI Partnerships

Through bold private sector partnerships between the G7 and Africa,we catalyze small powerful infrastructure innovations in data, talent,green compute, trust, and financing — creating multiplier effects thatgenerate jobs, grow industries in priority sectors, and unlock practicalAI tools built with Africa’s innovators.

Explore ProgrammesOur Partners
1,000+
Innovators Engaged
1.5M
GPU Hours Deployed
USD 3M+
Compute Credits
25
Partnerships Re-imagined
18
Countries
The AI Foundations

Five pillars where the AI Hub unlocks resources for today and builds foundations for tomorrow

Data, Green Compute, Talent, Trust, and Financing. Together, the AI Hub’s partners are shaping the architecture of global AI participation: deciding where compute will power humanity’s progress, which models will set the standards for generations, which regulations will unlock innovation, and where the world’s talent will converge to build our shared future.
01
Data
Unlocking AI-ready, reusable, and locally relevant datasets to fuel sustainable development
innovations.
02
Green Compute
Expanding access to
affordable and sustainable
computing power for African AI innovators.
03
Talent
Strengthening talent pipelines and skills development through
strategic partnerships with
leading networks.
04
Trust
Building cyber resilience,
accountability, and responsible AI frameworks together with the private sector.
05
Financing
Creating an ecosystem driven pipeline for right-sized investments, delivering immediate funding unlocks with VCs while advancing the connective tissue that turns available capital into deployed, compounding investment at continental scale.
AI Diffusion Pathways
Activating AI Diffusion Pathways in Africa
A trilateral Italy–Kenya–India partnership is building reusable AI foundations for the continent. Assets flow across borders from Africa to India and Italy—code, models, and know-how.
Turning experiments into shared, scalable AI infrastructure for the Global South.
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Italy
G7 leadership, Mattei Plan financing, CINECA compute infrastructure
Assets flow across borders
🇰🇪
Kenya
African anchor, sovereign AI adoption, trilateral coordination hub
Code, models, know-how
🇮🇳
India
Voice AI pathways, DPI expertise, Global South technology transfer
The Opportunity

AI is expected to contribute US$15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 — yet only 10% will be felt in the Global South without coordinated action.

View AI 10 Billion Initiative→
About the AI Hub

Co-creating with Africa’s AI
ecosystem

The AI Hub for Sustainable Development is a G7-endorsed collaborative
initiative co-led by Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) and
UNDP under the Italy-Africa Mattei Plan. Africa’s story is one of momentum —
the continent holds many of the critical minerals that power global AI
infrastructure and is home to the world’s youngest population.
Rather than transferring technology or providing training on existing tools, theAI Hub is strengthening the essential foundations of AI development — data,compute, talent, trust, and financing — to enable African innovators to createsolutions that serve both local development priorities and global markets.
Operating across 18 Mattei Plan countries, the Hub anchors programmes inenergy, agriculture, health, water, education and training, and infrastructure.
Explore Our Partners Model
“The AI Hub is Italy’s concrete and strategic response to the challenge of global innovation, in line with the decisions made by the Italian G7 Presidency and the Mattei Plan.”
Senator Adolfo Urso — Minister, MIMIT, Italy
Co-led by
Italy MIMIT + UNDP
Equal co-leadership under the Italy-Africa Mattei Plan, G7-endorsed at Borgo Egnazia 2024.
Compute Partner
CINECA — Leonardo Supercomputer
1.5 million GPU hours deployed to 54 active innovators across agriculture, health, energy, and education.

Our Focus Areas

Data

GREEN
COMPUTE

TALENT

Enabling Ecosystem

The AI Hub for Sustainable Development

Our mission is to nurture a space where novel ideas emerge and thrive, with transformative solutions by Africa’s innovators and start-ups to build AI foundations—in areas of green compute, data and talent. Connecting everyone into an ecosystem where they can grow together and advance prosperity for all is at the AI Hub's core.

As Enrico Mattei, the inspiration for the Italy-Africa Mattei Plan, redefined international partnerships in the 1950s, Italy is once again driving an ecosystem of equal partnerships through the AI Hub. The AI Hub is aligned with the African Union’s AI Strategy and is anchored by 14 partner countries in Africa (Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Tanzania and Tunisia), catalyzing transformation across six key sectors–energy, agriculture, health, water, education & training, and infrastructure.

Artificial Intelligence is poised to be the most transformative technology of our era, and its benefits must be accessible to all. For Africa, where 60% of Africans are under 25, AI presents a unique opportunity to leapfrog traditional development growth, delivering innovative and impactful solutions in healthcare, education, agriculture, finance, and governance.
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Bold solutions and partnerships are required to meet the unique needs of the African AI market. Based in Rome, Italy, the AI Hub for Sustainable Development recognizes the importance of reimagining global models and resources to match the realities and ambitions of African innovators.

No prior technology cycle has matched AI’s potential to accelerate Africa’s industrial development. Join us to co-design exponential solutions and infrastructure, working with AI innovators and start-ups across borders.

The official opening included political and private sector leaders across G7, the EU, Italy and Africa, with notable mentions including:
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“The AI Hub for Sustainable Development is part of the Mattei Plan, a priority of the Italian Government’s foreign policy. With this instrument we want to contribute to the achievement of development objectives, leveraging the private sector and interesting projects for the market.” 

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– Adolfo Urso – Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Government of Italy

‍First Wave of Core Initiatives

The official launch of the AI Hub for Sustainable Development spotlighted the first wave of core initiatives aimed at accelerating AI-enabled industrial development across Africa.

The Africa Green Compute Coalition (AGCC)

A flagship of the AI Hub, working with core design partners from G7, Italy and Kenya: Alliance4AI, Axum, Kytabu and Cineca to exponentially enable access to scalable, sustainable, and affordable AI compute infrastructure – understanding and partnering with both supply and demand - to precisely target climate positive innovations and industrial development across Africa.
Compute Accelerator Programme

An initiative designed to connect supply with demand readiness through integrated acceleration support, driving the efficient and effective use of compute to enable international growth and scalability.
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AI Infrastructure Builder Programme

A space where Africa’s AI Infrastructure builders are connected to an integrated network of government and financing, where they can shape the partnerships that the continent of Africa needs with the G7, Italy, and the European Union.
AI Hub Platform

An AI gateway that is foundational and transformational to how the world will engage with Africa to advance AI.



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AI Hub for Sustainable Development - Official Opening Day

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Introducing the AI Hub for Sustainable Development

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Africa Green Compute Coalition

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AskHub Preview

AI Art for Industries Walkthrough

A curated exhibition featuring AI-generated artwork submitted through an open call by African and Italian creators, showcasing their vision for the future of industrial growth in Africa, powered by AI. These are among the more than 100 submissions received across the 14 partner countries of the Italy-Africa Mattei Plan and Italy.

ALGERIA

'Echoes of M’Zab, Dreams of Tomorrow'
Djehaf Kaouthar
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ANGOLA

 'Green Future with African AI'
Chissola Marlene Neto Manuel

EGYPT

'Nile Nexus: AI Rebirth'
Anas Youssef

ETHIOPIA

'Climate Roast: AI Coffee Futures'
Zekarias Yemane Berhe

GHANA

'Roots of Innovation: Dual Consciousness with AI'
Abigail Oppong

ITALY

'Langhe Connected by African Heart'
Maura Micucci

IVORY COAST

'Graines d'Avenir Ivoirien'
Eric Adé Tanauh

KENYA

'AfroTech Farm: AI in Kenya'
Stephen Ndiema

MAURITANIA

'Digital Lights of the Desert'
Sidi Mohamed Hmeyti

MOROCCO

 'DeepRoots, DeepLeaf'
El Mahdi Aboulmanadel

MOZAMBIQUE

'Dreaming Tomorrow in Rural Mozambique'
Mário Neves Gonçalo Chilundo

REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

'A futuristic vision of Congo powered by AI'
Matt Glesmycene Seinzor

SENEGAL

'Woman, Land, and Data'
Oumar Ndiaye

TANZANIA

'Isle of Plenty'
Mc Donald Nyoni

TUNISIA

'Tunisia’s AI Learning Horizon'
Amen Allah Heni

Keep watching this space for updates on the work of the AI Hub
Get in touch: aihubfordevelopment@undp.org

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