Nairobi, Aug. 18 -- Last week, I read a World Bank report on how artificial intelligence can help Africa's economy. Its message is worth pondering: for Africa to reap AI's benefits, we should not focus solely on building infrastructure but also on preparing people to use it.

The World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence, estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa could receive an economic boost of up to 4 percent through AI adoption and scaling over the next decade. AI can increase productivity across industries while lowering barriers to innovation.

With a phone or laptop and internet connection, people with no programming experience can now identify a problem, develop a solution and create a working prototype within...