There is a striking disconnect between ambition and execution when it comes to artificial intelligence and cloud adoption among African businesses, according to a new PwC survey.
The consultancy’s 2025 Africa Cloud Business Survey found that 91% of respondents consider agentic AI capability a critical factor when choosing a cloud services provider. Yet only 37% say they are actively scaling agentic AI implementations – suggesting that for most organisations, the technology remains aspirational rather than operational.
The gap mirrors a broader tension the survey uncovered between business leaders and their technology counterparts. Business leaders are significantly more bullish about the state of their organisations’ cloud journeys, with 33% reporting cloud deployments across the enterprise. Only 21% of technology leaders agree.
“This perception gap reveals that business leaders see themselves as more advanced at converting investments into organisation-wide outcomes, whilst tech teams view the organisation as still concentrating on creating scalable infrastructure foundations,” the report said.
Mark Allderman, PwC’s Africa cloud and digital head, said AI workloads require clean data architectures and work best among organisations whose digital transformation journeys are more mature. As a result, PwC has seen rising demand for engagements on digital transformation, data analytics and cloud migrations as organisations ready themselves for large-scale AI implementations.
The survey was conducted across 1 415 business and technology leaders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa from July to September 2025, with 44% from companies with annual revenue exceeding US$1-billion. It is unclear how many of these organisations are either from Africa or have organisations on the continent.
Beyond basic adoption
Budget constraints remain the biggest barrier to higher cloud adoption rates on the continent, the report found, with 23% of leaders saying they lack a clear IT investment strategy aligned with business goals. Skills shortages, unclear governance structures and security concerns were also cited.
Despite these constraints, PwC said African organisations are moving beyond basic cloud adoption toward more strategic implementations. Multi-cloud has become the norm, with 86% of organisations running workloads across multiple providers to enhance resilience and flexibility. Almost all respondents – 98% – said they plan to adjust their cloud architecture to address scale, flexibility and data sovereignty needs.
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This perspective is echoed by a recent report by Telkom Group-owned cloud services provider BCX, which noted that cloud adoption is fuelled by the demand for scalable, cost-effective IT solutions that support digital transformation. An example cited by BCX is how Safaricom in Kenya leverages cloud platforms to scale its M-Pesa mobile money service, allowing the platform to support high transaction volumes for millions of users.
“The banking, telecommunications, and oil and gas sectors are leading the way in cloud adoption. These industries benefit from cloud computing’s ability to enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experiences and drive innovation. Many African businesses are increasingly adopting hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to avoid vendor lock-in, strengthen resilience, and optimise costs,” said BCX.
Geopolitical and regulatory pressures are reshaping cloud strategies, with 89% of respondents saying they have made changes to their cloud approach as a result. Sovereignty concerns in particular are driving organisations to rethink how they distribute workloads across regions, vendors and jurisdictions.
Investment in cybersecurity has been a priority, with 60% of organisations strengthening their disaster recovery and risk mitigation protocols, though the report warned that spending still lags behind the growing complexity of AI-driven cyber threats.
Areas considered to be advanced capabilities globally – including machine learning, financial operations (FinOps) and carbon footprint management – remain low in adoption across Africa compared with other regions.
Allderman said cloud adoption across Africa continues to accelerate even though organisations face a unique set of challenges that demand careful navigation. Many are working within tight budgets and simultaneously wrangling with a shortage of specialised cloud and security skills, managing cyber risks, and adapting to a shifting regulatory landscape, he added.
“What’s emerging from this, however, is a maturation that goes well beyond basic adoption. Africa is now moving into an era of cloud mastery, where organisations aren’t just implementing cloud solutions, but are strategically leveraging them to address the most pressing business challenges,” said Allderman. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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