The AI Future Is Being Written in Geneva—East Africa's SMEs Must Help Write It

As dawn breaks over Kampala's Kikuubo business district, Sarah unlocks the doors of her small wholesale shop. Before customers arrive, she checks inventory, responds to supplier messages, and updates her sales records. Across East Africa, millions of entrepreneurs like Sarah perform these daily tasks that keep businesses running, families fed, and economies growing.

Yet a technological revolution is unfolding that could fundamentally reshape how these businesses compete, grow, and create jobs.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how businesses operate worldwide. From predicting customer demand and improving logistics to automating administrative tasks and enhancing financial services, AI is becoming a powerful tool for competitiveness and growth. The question is whether East Africa's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be active participants in this transformation—or merely observers.

On 6–7 July, representatives from all 193 UN Member States and stakeholders will gather in Geneva for the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Among the key discussion areas are bridging AI divides, addressing capacity gaps, strengthening digital infrastructure, expanding access to AI applications, and promoting open-source software, open data, and open AI models.

For East African SMEs, these discussions are far from abstract policy debates.

SMEs account for the overwhelming majority of businesses in East Africa and provide employment for millions of people. They are the mechanics repairing vehicles in Mbale, the agribusiness cooperatives serving farmers in Masaka and Mbarara, the textile producers in Arusha, the fish processors in Mwanza and Kisumu, and the digital startups emerging across the region. Their success directly affects livelihoods, household incomes, and community resilience.

Yet many of these businesses face significant barriers to benefiting from AI. Reliable internet remains uneven. Computing infrastructure is expensive. Access to quality datasets is limited. Digital skills gaps persist, particularly among rural enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and youth-led businesses. Many SMEs lack the financial resources needed to experiment with emerging technologies.

The scale of these barriers becomes clearer when viewed through a continental lens. The African Union's Continental AI Strategy notes that Africa accounts for only about 1% of global AI computing capacity and roughly 3% of the world's AI talent pool. Meanwhile, more than 83% of AI startup funding on the continent is concentrated in just four countries—Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt.

Without deliberate action, many East African enterprises risk being left behind in the AI revolution.

At the same time, the opportunity is enormous. According to recent United Nations Sustainable Development reporting, 4.4 million people gained access to digital services and inclusive financial products through UN-supported programmes in 2024, while 27 countries advanced digital transformation initiatives and 484 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises improved productivity through technology adoption and workforce upskilling. These achievements demonstrate that when digital investments reach communities and businesses, tangible development gains follow.

These realities—and opportunities—should be central to the discussions in Geneva.

East African SMEs should advocate for practical AI capacity-building programmes that reach entrepreneurs where they are. This includes affordable digital skills training, support for local innovation hubs, improved broadband connectivity, and access to high-performance computing resources that would otherwise remain beyond their reach.

They should also champion open-source AI models and open data initiatives. For many small businesses, proprietary AI systems are simply too expensive. Open and accessible tools can help level the playing field, enabling local entrepreneurs to develop solutions tailored to East African languages, markets, and development challenges.

Most importantly, SMEs should remind global policymakers that AI governance is not merely about regulating technology; it is about expanding opportunities for people and businesses.

When a farmer cooperative uses AI to anticipate drought conditions, productivity improves. When a small manufacturer reduces waste through predictive analytics, jobs become more secure. When a woman entrepreneur gains access to affordable AI-powered business tools, her enterprise can grow and employ others.

As world leaders gather in Geneva, East Africa's SMEs cannot afford to remain on the sidelines. Business associations, chambers of commerce, innovation hubs, development partners, and governments should work together to ensure that the realities and aspirations of small businesses are reflected in global AI governance discussions.

The message from East Africa should be clear: invest in digital infrastructure, expand affordable access to computing power, support open-source AI, strengthen local AI talent, and create financing mechanisms that enable SMEs to adopt and innovate with AI. The African Union has already identified skills shortages, inadequate digital infrastructure, limited access to quality datasets, and funding constraints as major barriers to inclusive AI adoption. Unless these challenges are addressed, the benefits of AI will remain concentrated among a few countries and large corporations rather than the millions of small businesses that drive East Africa's economies.

The entrepreneurs opening their shops in Kampala, Kigali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Mogadishu, Kinshasa and Bujumbura every morning may never set foot in Geneva. Yet the decisions made there will influence their ability to compete, innovate, and create jobs in the years ahead. If AI governance is to be truly global, the businesses employing millions across East Africa must have a seat at the table. Their future—and East Africa's ability to harness AI for inclusive growth, resilience, and prosperity—depends on it.