The Huawei Intelligent Africa Summit 2025 was held in Marrakech, alongside GITEX Africa, under the theme “Enhancing Intelligence for a New Africa.” This third edition of GITEX marked a significant milestone in the technological transformation on the continent, dedicating extensive discussion to artificial intelligence and digital innovation, underscoring Africa’s profound transition.
In this context, the Huawei Summit focused on the pivotal role that artificial intelligence can play in achieving comprehensive and sustainable development that will shape the continent’s future.
In his opening speech, Shen Li, Huawei’s President for North, West, and Central Africa, emphasized the importance of adopting an integrated and collaborative approach, stating: “We will continue to work with all partners across the core pillars of artificial intelligence, including policies, technology, ecosystems, and talent, to accelerate smart transformation and contribute to building a new Africa.”
This sentiment echoed the remarks of Lasina Kone, Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, who stressed the necessity of aligning digital transformation with African specifics.
In this framework, he stated: “Let’s deepen our roots—in policies, in people, and in partnerships—so that Africa rises resiliently against the winds of change brought by artificial intelligence,” noting that “the African continent has a significant demographic advantage, with over 70% of its population under the age of thirty, representing a promising young energy full of creativity, resilience, and adaptability.”
For his part, Monir Soussi, Vice President of Huawei for North Africa, highlighted the great opportunities offered by inclusive artificial intelligence, driven by a customer-centric approach. He noted that “in this changing era, inclusive artificial intelligence opens promising horizons in Africa,” adding: “Huawei is committed to staying customer-focused, enhancing intelligence across the continent, reflecting the company’s dedication to providing practical and innovative solutions that create a tangible impact on individuals, communities, and business environments.”
The summit also highlighted the importance of new and smart infrastructure as a cornerstone for the advancement of artificial intelligence within the continent.
During a dedicated session, Ahmed Talaat, Technical Director of Huawei Cloud Services for North Africa, stated: “We are committed at Huawei Cloud to building an intelligent cloud infrastructure that serves the telecommunications sector and accelerates smart transformation across industries through systematic innovation that brings together cloud-enabled artificial intelligence and AI-supporting cloud. This approach aims to bridge digital divides through secure and resilient infrastructure that keeps pace with the developments of intelligent applications.”
The “new value” pillar, which was one of the summit’s central themes, was exemplified by a strong testimony from Marouane Akhrab, Head of the Digital Center at Attijariwafa Bank, who noted: “After laying the foundations for governance and centralized data, the group launched a second phase focused on transforming data into a true performance lever, through the development of analytical tools, improving utilization, and fostering a culture of artificial intelligence and data use among teams; highlighting the vital role that data and intelligent analytics now play in enhancing performance indicators, especially in the financial sector.”
Regarding the “new ecosystem” pillar, the summit organized a high-level discussion session that brought together a diverse range of stakeholders, emphasizing the need to develop flexible, inclusive, and adaptable frameworks capable of keeping pace with rapid digital transformations, enabling the continent to optimally leverage the potential of artificial intelligence in the long term, both economically and socially.
A press release confirmed that the Huawei Intelligent Africa Summit 2025 outlined clear and ambitious goals for Africa’s digital future through integrated strategic visions, inspiring testimonies, and high-level discussions.
The statement stressed that Huawei reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to continue working with various stakeholders and partners across the continent to build a smarter and more inclusive future, where innovation serves everyone and is for everyone.
