“In 2026, the most valuable AI deployments in African tech will shift away from experimentation…” – Yewande Odumosu

Prediction

In 2026, the most valuable AI deployments in African tech will shift away from experimentation toward data-accurate, production-grade systems embedded in enterprise, financial services, and government workflows. Competitive advantage will come less from novel models and more from data quality, context-specific accuracy, and reliability at scale.

Supporting Evidence

As AI tooling becomes commoditised, organisations are discovering that poor data quality, not model capability, is the primary constraint to real world impact. Enterprises, financial institutions, and public sector actors are increasingly prioritising AI use cases tied to reconciliation, compliance, underwriting, forecasting, and service delivery where accuracy, auditability, and trust matter more than speed or novelty.

Risk Factor

Weak data infrastructure, limited access to clean local datasets, or restrictive regulation around data use and AI deployment could slow adoption, particularly in regulated sectors.

Who is Yewande Odumosu?

Yewande Odumosu is a technology executive and investor with over 15 years of experience leading cross-functional teams and delivering technology initiatives across software engineering, telecoms, renewable energy, and fintech.

She is a co-founder of HoaQ Ventures Fund, an early-stage investment fund backing founders building tech and tech-enabled startups serving Africa and its diaspora.