At the 2025 Huawei South Africa Connect event, Jonas Bogoshi, CEO of BCX, delivered a keynote on Africa’s urgent need to harness artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure to secure its economic sovereignty.
His message was clear: in today’s rapidly changing world, economic power has become the new diplomatic language and Africa must act decisively to claim its place in this new order.
Bogoshi framed his address around what he termed the “second American Revolution” – not a war for independence, but a strategic realignment of global power dynamics under U.S. President Donald Trump.
He emphasised that these geopolitical shifts have fundamentally altered the rules of engagement between nations, with economic resilience now serving as the primary measure of a country’s relevance on the world stage.
For Africa, this presents both an unprecedented challenge and a historic opportunity.
The BCX CEO stressed that true independence in this new era requires more than political sovereignty – it demands ownership of digital infrastructure, control of data, and investment in homegrown talent. Without these critical assets, Bogoshi warned, African nations risk becoming perpetual consumers rather than creators in the global digital economy.
He challenged the audience to consider whether Africa would remain passive in the face of these changes or seize the opportunity to become an active shaper of the new world order.
At the heart of Bogoshi’s argument was the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. Where natural resources once drove economic growth, he explained, intelligent infrastructure – cloud computing platforms, AI systems, and digital identity frameworks – now represent the foundation of future prosperity. But this technological revolution, he cautioned, must serve more than corporate efficiency; it must uplift entire societies.
Bogoshi painted vivid pictures of how AI could transform African lives: rural mothers accessing specialist healthcare through telemedicine, smallholder farmers using predictive analytics to improve crop yields, and marginalized communities gaining access to financial services through digital identity systems.
Citing McKinsey research projecting that AI could add $13 trillion to global GDP by 2030 – with $1.5 trillion of that opportunity residing in South Africa alone – Bogoshi underscored the enormous stakes for the continent. However, he emphasised that realizing this potential would require deliberate, coordinated action across multiple levels of society.
For enterprises, Bogoshi urged a shift in mindset from viewing technology investments as mere efficiency drivers to recognizing them as votes for the kind of future Africa wants to build. Every procurement decision, every platform implementation, he argued, either moves the continent toward digital sovereignty or reinforces dependence on foreign systems.
At the industry level, the BCX CEO called for a move beyond isolated innovations toward integrated ecosystems. He emphasized the need for shared platforms, interoperable standards, and collaborative approaches that can drive transformation at scale.
True progress, Bogoshi suggested, should be measured not just in technological adoption rates but in tangible improvements to public services, reductions in inequality, and the development of homegrown digital talent.
Perhaps most compelling was Bogoshi’s vision for reimagined partnerships between African businesses and global technology providers.
He praised Huawei’s collaborative approach, contrasting it with traditional vendor relationships. Using BCX’s AgriTech initiative as an example – which combines Huawei’s AI capabilities, cloud infrastructure, and connectivity solutions to address challenges faced by smallholder farmers – Bogoshi demonstrated how deep partnerships could create solutions tailored to Africa’s unique context.
The keynote reached its conclusion with a direct challenge to the audience’s sense of historical responsibility.
“When future generations look back on this pivotal moment,” Bogoshi asked, “what will they say about our choices? Did we have the courage to act boldly, or did we hesitate at the threshold of opportunity?” His final question – “What kind of world do you want your children to inherit?” – hung in the air as a sobering reminder of the stakes involved.
Bogoshi left no room for ambiguity: the future belongs not to those who adapt, but to those who create. For Africa, the time to choose between these paths is now. The technologies exist, the partnerships are forming, and the global landscape is being reshaped whether Africa participates or not. The only remaining question is whether the continent’s leaders – in business, government, and civil society – will seize this moment to secure Africa’s place in the coming AI-powered world order.
