This quote below from Professor Abejide Ade-Ibijola stopped me in my tracks. Prof. Ade-Abjola was addressing the Huawei Cloud Tech Wave DeepSeek workshop in Johannesburg.
“We need to weaponise the young people in numbers to chase AI, and let those who are too old to move, move into strategy.”
Honestly? Bars.
Ade-Ibijola made a compelling case: Africa’s youth are the future of the continent, sure. But they’re also the only viable plan for how we leapfrog into that future.
And if we don’t move fast enough, we’re going to miss the window entirely.
SA youth are stuck in 1982
Ade-Ibijola paints a brutal picture:
Large parts of Africa are stuck in a ‘timeless dimension’ where the challenges, infrastructure, and even newspaper headlines look exactly the same as they did four decades ago.
And while the rest of the world is trying to figure out how to regulate AGI (artificial general intelligence), we’re still figuring out electricity.
AGI is a type of AI that can learn, reason, and solve problems across a wide range of tasks, just like a human. It’s the type of AI movies depict: fully autonomous, creative, and capable of independent thought.
Unlike today’s AI tools, which are trained for specific things, AGI would be flexible and adaptable across any domain.
But this isn’t a pity post. It’s a rallying cry.
The solution isn’t more hand-wringing. It’s more code.
Stop sleeping on our talent
Africa’s young people are spending their time on TikTok, gaming, streaming, and generally surviving in under-resourced schools that haven’t evolved since dial-up.
And that’s not their fault.
We’re failing to provide the tools that make learning feel worth it.
We’re failing to invest in the programs that teach skills with real outcomes. But we have proof that when you do? The results are wild.
Just look at GRIT Lab Africa: training students aged 18–22 across 38 institutions in 11 countries, pushing out real software, including apps and VR labs.
These students are doing actual work: not just writing code for the sake of grades, but solving real world problems too.
One UJ-built system is now being used by 50,000 people. Another team built a virtual courtroom. They even made an AI-Dad chatbot using DeepSeek!
We don’t need another debate. We need funding.
Ade-Ibijola isn’t calling for more reports or frameworks.
He’s saying: throw money at this.
Give young Africans access to powerful AI tools like DeepSeek. Let them build. Let them solve. Let them export their innovations.
Because if we get this right, AI won’t widen the global gap. It could actually close it.
But only if we stop waiting and start building.
