- Presight deepens Africa push with new AI partnerships in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon
Presight, the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence company majority-owned by G42, has signed new agreements with the governments of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon, extending its African footprint as states across the continent step up investment in digital infrastructure, public-sector automation and data-driven governance.
The agreements, structured as separate memoranda of understanding, position Presight as a technology partner in national digital transformation programmes that go beyond basic digitisation and into the deployment of intelligent systems across public administration and critical infrastructure. The company said the partnerships will focus on embedding data, analytics and automation into government operations in ways intended to improve service delivery, institutional coordination and decision-making.
In Côte d’Ivoire, Presight signed two MoUs, one with the Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitization and another with the Ministry of State, Public Services and Modernization of the Administration. The stated aim is to support advanced digital platforms that can help government institutions manage data more effectively, improve cross-agency coordination and modernise public administration, while reinforcing Abidjan’s ambition to emerge as a regional centre for digital innovation.
In Burkina Faso, the company’s agreement with the Ministry of Digital Transition, Posts and Electronic Communications is broader in institutional scope. It includes plans to explore AI-enabled systems for public service delivery, treasury management, financial transparency and cybersecurity for critical national systems. The partnership also carries a stronger local capability angle, with support for an AI Expert Factory to train engineers and the planned Ouaga Granit Valley Centre, which is intended to serve as a hub for the country’s start-up ecosystem.
Gabon, meanwhile, represents continuity as much as expansion. Presight said its latest agreement follows the renewal in February of an existing memorandum with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Innovation, reflecting what both sides described as a shared commitment to accelerate the country’s digital transformation and the modernisation of public services through artificial intelligence.
The significance of these deals lies not only in Presight’s commercial expansion but in the wider shift they reflect across Africa. Governments that once treated digitalisation primarily as an e-government exercise are increasingly moving towards larger questions of digital sovereignty, state capacity and the operational use of AI in public systems. That helps explain why the company’s pitch is less about apps and more about national platforms, institutional capability and secure operating environments. This framing is directly reflected in Presight’s description of its business as building intelligent systems for governments and critical infrastructure.
For African governments, the attraction is clear. AI is being framed not just as a productivity tool, but as a means to strengthen institutions, improve transparency and modernise public services in environments where administrative efficiency remains uneven. For foreign technology firms, the opportunity lies in becoming embedded early in state-led digital architecture at national scale.
The company’s expansion also comes as AI financing in Africa begins to scale. The release points to a recently launched $10bn initiative by the African Development Bank Group and the United Nations Development Programme aimed at accelerating responsible AI adoption and inclusive digital growth on the continent. It also references the UAE’s own $1bn AI for Development initiative, announced in 2025, as part of the broader capital flow now forming around African digital infrastructure.
That financial backdrop matters because it suggests the continent’s AI story is moving from conference rhetoric into the early stages of project financing and geopolitical competition. Gulf capital, multilateral funding and national digital agendas are increasingly intersecting, and companies such as Presight are positioning themselves at that intersection.
Presight said it is also advancing partnerships, pilot projects and digital innovation programmes in Angola, the Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda, signalling a wider Africa strategy rather than a narrow cluster of bilateral deals. For investors and policymakers, the message is that the next phase of Africa’s digital race may be shaped less by consumer apps and more by who builds the intelligence layer of the state.
For now, the new agreements in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon give Presight a stronger foothold in a market where governments are no longer simply looking to digitise paperwork. They are looking to redesign how the state functions — and they are increasingly willing to use AI as part of that redesign.
