DecisionSpaak to train 10m Africans in AI skills
The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DecisionSpaak Technologies, Philip Ade-Akanbi, has unveiled plans to train 10 million Africans on artificial intelligence by December 2026, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Ade-Akanbi announced the initiative during a panel session at the Digital Professional Fair 2025, held at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, under the theme ‘Beyond the Hustle – Building a Sustainable Digital Business’.
He said the programme is driven by his belief in the transformative power of knowledge.
“I have seen the real value that knowledge can afford a professional,” Ade-Akanbi said and added, “When I worked in a bank in Nigeria, I created a data literacy programme for staff members to learn about artificial intelligence and data analytics. That single move led to the exponential growth of the bank’s Data Maturity Index. I want to replicate that kind of transformation for millions of Africans.”
According to the statement, Ade-Akanbi described AI as a tool that can unlock growth for individuals and organisations, stressing that early access to training would create ripple effects across society. DecisionSpaak, an innovation and analytics group operating across the Middle East and Africa, is leveraging partnerships to deliver the goal.
“Our strategies are heavily dependent on collaboration,” he said. “We partner with educational technology platforms, government agencies, universities and even secondary schools. We license our custom training programmes on AI to these platforms, which deliver the same to learners across Africa. By spreading the knowledge early, we can prepare a generation of professionals who understand how to use AI in their everyday lives.”
Since the start of 2025, DecisionSpaak has trained more than 50,000 people through webinars, conferences and educational initiatives. The company is also preparing to launch a podcast on data and AI aimed at democratising knowledge and reaching wider audiences, according to the statement.
Ade-Akanbi stressed that the mission is not just about numbers but about equipping Africans to compete in a digital world: “At the end of the day, every knowledge we gain will be applied to the decisions we make in our daily lives. AI is not abstract; it is already shaping how businesses and societies function. Africans must not be left behind.”
